


Tale as Old as Time

by MaraSenpai1997



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Curses, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Blood, Minor Violence, Swords & Sorcery, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-21 13:38:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 43,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11358612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaraSenpai1997/pseuds/MaraSenpai1997
Summary: Michele knew that a life as a knight was somewhat exciting. If you weren’t a terrible knight- even he wasn’t a terrible knight despite his lacklustre swordsmanship, you got the opportunity to see the world, leave the capital and see other places. You would meet other people, different cultures and eat different kind of foods. As a knight, you could see the world and experience things ordinary people wouldn’t experience. Eating dinner with a dragon was definitely one of those things- only Michele never had expected that it would happen to him. Food poisoning seemed less awkward than sharing a meal with a 10-foot-tall dragon.Michele knew his life would change drastically once he set foot in the forest. He either become rich and never have to worry about living in poverty again, or he would die. Apparently, there was a third, life-changing option which includes a cursed dragon, the life lesson on why friends are important and true love saves the day. (Actually it is Guang Hong and Seung-gil who end up saving the day, but let’s keep it romantic, shall we?)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nerily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerily/gifts).



> For starters- _yes_ , this is finished. But as it had gotten really, _really_ long, I decided to cut it in three parts instead of making it one, long, long, one-shot. And yes, this chapter is actually 11k long, _and_ the shortest chapter of the three.  
>  Anyway, this is my work for the EmiMike exchange hosted on Tumblr (finable [here](https://emimikeweek.tumblr.com/)). It was a bit of a struggle to pick the right prompt, but this one hit me like a brick and 43k words later, we’re here. My giftee is the wonderful [ Nerily ](http://nerily.tumblr.com/). I was very happy to write for her, as she reads some of my stuff (still don’t understand why- but that’s me.)
> 
> Also, as I wasn't sure how to rate it, I was tossing between T-rated and M-rated, I eventually decided on T-rated. The reasons why this might have been M-rated (beware of possible triggers please)  
>  **Warnings:**  
>  \- Mentions of characters being underweighted (not due to illness)  
> \- Semi-graphic description of blood, injuries and scars  
> \- Mentions of multiple deaths  
> \- Minor violence (very minor)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For starters- _yes_ , this is finished. But as it had gotten really, _really_ long, I decided to cut it in three parts instead of making it one, long, long, one-shot. And yes, this chapter is actually 11k long, _and_ the shortest chapter of the three.  
>  Anyway, this is my work for the EmiMike exchange hosted on Tumblr (finable [here](https://emimikeweek.tumblr.com/)). It was a bit of a struggle to pick the right prompt, but this one hit me like a brick and 43k words later, we’re here. My giftee is the wonderful [ Nerily ](http://nerily.tumblr.com/). I was very happy to write for her, as she reads some of my stuff (still don’t understand why- but that’s me.)
> 
> Also, as I wasn't sure how to rate it, I was tossing between T-rated and M-rated, I eventually decided on T-rated. The reasons why this might have been M-rated (beware of possible triggers please)  
>  **Warnings:**  
>  \- Mentions of characters being underweighted (not due to illness)  
> \- Semi-graphic description of blood, injuries and scars  
> \- Mentions of multiple deaths  
> \- Minor violence (very minor)

Michele never had been the most brilliant person out there. He wasn’t stupid, far cleverer than most of his fellow knights. However, deciding on trying on _that_ mission had been a crazy idea- an idea that probably would cost him his life. But two days ago, it seemed like a good idea. If he managed to somehow slay the Forest Dragon- the same dragon that terrorised the same forest for more than five years- neither he or Sara would have ever worry about money ever again. The issue is, is that no-one even had come close to defeating it, only a few had lived to tell the tall. It had been a good idea- good enough for Michele to put on his gear and march into the forest. But, that was two days ago, and he wished he just had stayed home, doing stupid odd jobs to pay the rent for their small apartment.

 

Groaning, Michele slumped against a tree trunk, fingers curling around his pierced skin of his left-side. A gift from a couple of bandits who tried to rob him. Hissing in pain, grinding his teeth, Michele lowered himself to the ground, armour-clad back pressed firmly against the tree trunk. Yes, one could call him lucky that the bandits hadn’t killed him. But surely, even as the bandits had run off like a group of cowards, Michele was still left to rot, bleed to death. If the dragon didn’t find him before that, which Michele doubted. The moment Michele actually started to bleed- the bandits had called in quits, cursing amongst themselves, making it bright and clear that the blood would attract the Forest Dragon. The roar that had followed was enough to get the scam actually running as if hell was on their heels. A weakened knight with barely anything on him wasn’t worth the risk of facing that monster.

 

The same monster Michele surely was about to face. He should have listened to Sara- who had warned him that it was insanity to try to slay the monster. After all, Michele wasn’t a skilled swordsman, probably even one of the weaker ones the knight guild had for over. Sixteen-year-old students probably could kick Michele’s ass in a one-on-one match. Nevertheless, Michele doubted that his sword skills would be the reason he wouldn’t live to see the end of the day, the dragon would take care of that.

 

Leaves rustle, birds and other animals hurried away in a whirlwind of noise as the monstrous creature came closer, each time causing the ground to shake slightly. Michele wondered what he was about to face. If he had to believe the people who survive an encounter with the dragon, it was hideous, with sharp claws and teeth. It could spit fire and fly, and ate humans for breakfast. So, it was like any other dragon that appeared in the stories, only this one was genuine and causing a real issue for the people of Michele’s city- the capital of their land. Hence why there was such a big bounty on its head. It was a nuisance; a nuisance the merchants of the capital couldn’t afford.

 

You see, the closest-by town for the capital was a large city, also called Port City, located at sea. The shortest route was the path through the forest- but since the arrival of the dragon five years ago, people rarely dared to use the path. Instead, people travelled around the forest, which took at least twice, most of the times trice as long as usual. So, the merchant guilds had put money together as a reward for the one who slew the dragon, and plenty of men had tried before Michele. None of them had managed, and only a few of them had returned alive.

 

The ground shook, trees bent unnaturally, and Michele swears he could hear the creature breathing- or hissing, considering dragons were reptiles. Closing his eyes, Michele let his head fall against the tree trunk and counted his last minutes of being alive. If he were lucky, he would be killed instantly. If he were unlucky, which was probably the case, he would be slowly roasted to death. Nonetheless, whatever the outcome was, the dragon didn’t give him the opportunity to die of a battle wound.

 

And if he would survive this, Sara would kill him for his own stupidity. But hey, that probably wouldn’t happen, so it wasn’t all bad. Who was he kidding, the situation was terrible. Sara would be devastated and due to their money issues, forced to marry some gross man who had enough money. Only two years ago, their parents had passed away, and now it seemed that Michele was about to abandon Sara too. He surely wasn’t going to win the award of best brother of the year.

 

A tree snapped. Michele jerked, hissing in pain as his own nails dug into his cut. “Fuck,” he cursed, removing his hand from his wound. That was an awful lot of blood. Yeah, even without the dragon he would never make it out of the wood alive- the trip to Port City was at least a solid two-day trip, just like returning home. He would never make it.

 

His attention, however, moved from his wound to the other end of the clearing in a second. There were movements- slow, almost sluggish movements, but something moved, and Michele didn’t like.

 

Clearing his throat, Michele tried to rid his voice of fear. He wasn’t doing a great job in that. “Just get over with it,” he said loud and clear, voice shaking with fear. He was too young to die, but what could he do against a dragon?

 

The movement halted for a second as _if_ the dragon actually heard him speaking and foremost, _understood_ him. Michele probably had lost a lot of blood considering his crazy thought. As if dragons could understand humans, that would have led to world domination by dragons- if there was more than just one. Actually, nobody even knew if the Forest Dragon was real because the only evidence was stories, stories told by scared, often confused, people.

 

For a brief moment, Michele hoped that the dragon had understood him and left. He didn’t want to face the horrors of a dragon- the scarred scales, the bloodthirsty gaze, the razor-sharp teeth. The images had frightened him as a child, even if the brave knight always slew the dragon. It was sad to think that the last thing he would see before his dead was one of those pictures he had been scared of as a kid.

 

Trees moaned, and a scaly snout forced its way into the clearing. The nose was slim, dull, greenish scales covering it. Michele blinked, trying to see if the sunlight actually didn’t reflect off them. In the stories, dragons always had reflecting scales to blind archers who tried to strike them down during flight. But no, the scales were most definitely dull, which meant, this dragon wasn’t supposed to fly, at all. The rest of the body followed, and Michele was, well, underwhelmed.

 

The dragon wasn’t as frightening as he had expected. It was about ten-foot-tall and, from head to tail, maybe thirty. That wasn’t that big. But it was the dragon’s face that caught him off guard. Soft, blue eyes- almost human-like. There were no battle scars, nor were there long, sharp teeth or sharp nails. It almost looked like an oversized lizard, an oversized lizard that was currently eyeing Michele with what seemed like curiosity. _Curiosity?_ Could reptiles display human behaviour?

 

“Hey,” Michele stammered, and to his disbelief, the dragon reacted. Ears twitching, eyes flickering in recognition. He could actually understand Michele. The lizard could understand Michele. This wasn’t good, at all. But, nevertheless, Michele continued. He might as well make the best out of the situation. “Just get over with it,” he repeated slowly. “I’m bleeding out anyway and getting eating is probably a less painful death than, well, this.”

 

As Michele gestured to his injured side, the dragon’s eyes followed. Michele gasped in alarm as the dragon made a noise that sounded almost like he was choking on, well, air, nostrils flaring up. Okay, maybe Michele just signed his own death. Well, he hoped that Sara would be okay and be able to move on, find a somewhat suitable husband and live a decently happy life. Michele closed his eyes, expecting the dragon to take this as an invitation to go ahead and eat him. The last thing he wanted was being toyed with like some poor mouse captured by a cat.

 

Almost immediately, the dragon moved. The footsteps were shallow, the tremor light as if the dragon didn’t dare to make too much noise, too much movement. Maybe it was afraid that it would startle Michele and give him the opportunity to run away. That thought was pretty laughable. It wasn’t like he could get very far with his throbbing side and the lack of blood running through his veins. After a few seconds of nothing but complete and utter silence, warm air was blown into his face. Okay- he didn’t have to open his eyes to know that the dragon was inches away from him, probably deciding what the best way was to eat him. Roasted human probably was quite a delight to eat, especially for a human-eating dragon.

 

Honestly, Michele had managed to form quite the list of possible deaths. Burned to death, snapped neck, his head bitten off. The dragon could do an awful lot to him, yet, for whatever reason, the dragon did something Michele hadn’t even thought of, _even_ considered feasible at all. It _licked_ Michele’s face, nudging it slightly with its tongue. It was almost dog-like behaviour. A whining noise followed soon, and the dragon nudged Michele’s head with his snout. What was this? Wasn’t the dragon supposed to eat him, not worry about him like some kind of dog?

 

Deciding that thing couldn’t get much weirder than they already were, Michele slowly opened his eyes. He stared right into a pair of blue eyes, which were still scarily human-like. They could _actually_ belong to a human. Weren’t reptiles supposed to have dialled pupils or something like that?

 

“Are you,” Michele hesitated- a dragon couldn’t really understand him, could it? “Trying to comfort me?”

 

The moment the dragon shook his head, Michele knew that the dragon actually understood him. Dragons understood human speech, no Biggy.

 

But if the dragon wasn’t trying to comfort him, what else was it trying to do? Help him? _Wait_ , that actually could be possible. It had shown his presences as soon as Michele had been critically injured, and it had approach Michele carefully, probably not trying to scare him and causing him to hurt himself further. “You’re helping me?” Michele questioned, staring at the dragon, waiting for a reaction.

 

The dragon nodded, making some kind of snorting noise that was supposed to be a ‘yes’. Michele wasn’t particularly sure how a dragon could help him, or maybe it was all a trap. But nonetheless, he rather took the shot in the dark and possibly survive instead of just straight out bleed to death.

 

“But how are you going to help me?” Michele asked, trying to communicate with the dragon. It was clear as day that it couldn’t speak, but it could understand and knew how to respond to non-verbal communication, something that made it an intelligent creature. “I mean- I won’t be able to return to the capital- I’ll bleed to death before I’m even halfway.” Halfway was an understatement. He wouldn’t even survive for an hour before he would collapse due to blood loss. “I need to clean my wound and tie it up- do you have an idea where I can do that?”

 

The dragon nodded and used its head to gesture to the breach into the greenery, the direction it had come from. “Your cave?” once again, the dragon nodded. The dragon retreated, turning around and heading back to where it came from. However, before it left the clearing, the dragon looked back and made a beckoning motion with his head, probably wanting Michele to follow him.

 

Following a stranger was never a good idea. On the other hand, remaining put and bleeding to death probably wasn’t a smart idea either. Pushing himself up, Michele ground his teeth together, trying to work through the pain. Sitting had been less painful, but that might have been because he wouldn’t have to move- and it was moving around that made his skin flare up in pain.

 

Stumbling after the dragon, Michele tried to keep the bleeding to the minimum. His clothes and armour were already ruined anyway, the last thing they could do before they were discharged was keeping him alive. Passing his sword, Michele wondered whenever he should pick it up or not. Yes, his sword had yet to let him down, on the other hand, what good would it do against a ten-foot tall dragon? Nothing, especially if Michele remained in such an injured state.

 

Sighing in regretted defeat, Michele left the weapon be and followed the dragon out of the clearing into the forest. Now hoping that the dragon actually wanted to help him and not trying to murder him.

 

~*~

 

It wasn’t a long walk to the dragon’s cave, yet Michele felt like he was about to pass out once they arrived. Blood was trailing behind him, and for a solid five minutes-or-so, his legs had felt like jelly. It probably was sheer stubbornness that had kept Michele on two feet and moving.

 

The cave looked... the cave fitted the dragon. It looked almost inviting, with greenery surrounding it, hiding it from view. Nobody would actually manage to find it- you had to be lucky, or unlucky, and stumble upon it. Breathing through the pain, Michele marched towards the opening, bracing himself for what was to come. How many humans had this dragon killed? How many bones were there? How many clothes, weapons and money was scattered through the cave like some trophy? A lot by considering the stories. The dragon had been there for at least five years by now, it surely must have had eaten something- something meaty and probably human.

 

For the second time that day, Michele had been proven wrong. There were no bones inside the cave, nor where there many piles of money and shiny jewellery. A few weapons, rusted by the looks of it, were thrown in a dark corner. The rest was covered by fabrics, blankets, curtains, clothing. They covered the floor like some makeshift mattress. Fruits were piled up in a big heap, and by the looks of it, they were still fresh. Water seeped from the walls and formed a small pond. What was this? It was almost like a human home, a cosy, very personally decorated human home.

 

“You have a nice place,” Michele admitted, and he basically could hear the dragon keen in happiness. “Uhm, bandages?”

 

The dragon let out a low rumble, and its tail whipped around, narrowly missing hitting Michele’s head. Immediately, an apologetic noise followed. Refocusing on the task ahead, it had no use to scold a dragon that could eat him alive, Michele eyes the direction the tail was pointing at.

 

A pile of bags, bags belonging to humans. A few odd items were scattered through the stack, like a few plush dolls, handkerchiefs, candles, herbs and _bandages_.

 

Licking his lips nervously, Michele moved his gaze to the dragon. He wasn’t going to try anything crazy right now, not with a 10-foot-tall dragon watching him closely. “Can I,” Michele gestured to the pile of odd items first, then gestured to the small pool of water in the cave. When the dragon nodded instantly, Michele stumbled over to the pile of goods and grabbed a roll of bandages. That would do for now. Michele was about to leave when he spotted a small jar with what seemed like ointment- the same kind of substance that his mum and other healers used on wounds. It would at least be worth trying, and as a dragon probably had no use for it.

 

Snatching up the jar, Michele moved over to the pond, picking up a decently clean looking rag along the way. He still wasn’t sure _how_ he was going to do this- he never before had to patch himself up. After all, never before had he been stabbed like that- his skill as a knight never had been good enough to be assigned to such missions.

 

Well, first thing first, his clothes had to go. They were a hazard and by now, already ruined. Maybe if they were washed, his undergarment could be used for the dragon’s cave. The rest he had to dispose of in one way or another- his armour was pretty much ruined anyway.

 

“Hey, dragon,” Michele started, feeling entirely foolish to talk to a dragon. Yet, it somewhat eased his conscience- after all, he was about to strip down to his birthday suit. He at least wanted to give the dragon the opportunity to look away if he wanted. “I’m about to strip down, so you’re warned.”

 

Before losing his nerve, it was still awkward to strip down in front of a dragon, Michele kicked off his boots, trying not to move his torso too much. The rest of his gear-up followed though the pace was agonising slow. He simply couldn’t risk injuring himself more by rushing into this- he wasn’t entirely stupid. Just dumb enough to try to slay a dragon and being rescued by said dragon.

 

Tearing his undershirt away, removing the last article of clothing, Michele inspected his wound. It was indeed a nasty cut, and by the looks of it, it easily could get infected, _if_ it wasn’t already infected. So he could add that to the list of ways he could’ve died today. Killed by bandits, bleed to death, being eaten by a dragon and now killed by an infection. The list just kept on growing and growing.

 

Sitting down carefully, Michele stared at his reflection in the water. Honestly, he barely could recognise himself. Face pale and ill-looking, cheeks and eyes sunk in-  probably due to the lack of food he had consumed the last few… days? Weeks? Months? Dirt and grime were smeared all across his face, twigs and leaves sticking out of his short hair. He looked downright awful- but thankfully, there was no-one to worry about him. Sara surely would get a fit if she saw him like that, maybe one or two of his friend would worry, but that was it. None else would care- as that was just the danger of being a knight. And certainly now, which his only companion was a dragon he never met, he wouldn’t have to fear someone pamper him like he was a child.

 

~*~

 

He knew that a life as a knight was somewhat exciting. If you weren’t a terrible knight- even Michele wasn’t a terrible knight despite his lacklustre swordsmanship, you got the opportunity to see the world, leave the capital and see other places. You would meet other people, different cultures and eat different kind of foods. He had heard plenty of his co-workers bragging about the fact they had gotten food poisoning from eating some exotic fish, or one claimed he had met a woman as stunning as an angel. No-one really had believed him, knights were good at smack talking, but that didn’t change the fact that as a knight, you could see the world and experience things ordinary people wouldn’t experience. Eating dinner with a dragon was definitely one of those things- only Michele never had expected that it would happen to him. Food poisoning seemed less awkward than sharing a meal with a 10-foot-tall dragon.

 

Yet, he was sitting on a cavern floor, munching on some wild fruits with a dragon being his only companion. The dragon had fetched the food while Michele had been fixing himself up. It had returned with a big amount of food- food that probably could feed a large family for a solid week. At first, Michele hadn’t understood why- as this dragon surely wasn’t stupid. Michele couldn’t finish that much food in one go- not even in a solid week. If it didn’t rot away, Michele could live on a fruit-only diet for at least a month.

 

That was if the dragon hadn’t been, apparently, either a herbivore or omnivore. A plant eater or a mixed eater. Nevertheless, it was shoving food inside like it was nobody’s business _after_ he had given Michele his own share, which was still too much for any normal human being.

 

“Uhm,” Michele mumbled, chewing on some wild berries that he wasn’t familiar with, at all, but doubted that they were poisonous. “Thanks, for everything.”

 

Immediately, the dragon stopped eating. Juices run down his snout, eyes blinking comically. It probably hadn’t expected Michele to thank him- probably would have been satisfied if Michele wouldn’t have thanked it. The staring was unnerving, not because it was a 10-foot-tall dragon, but because its eyes were too human-like. If Michele wouldn’t know better- it would have been a human staring at him and not a dragon that was supposed to eat him.

 

The dragon let out a noise that Michele associated with content. Taking in the rapidly moving tail and the twitching movement of the dragon’s ears, Michele decided that it was content. Michele never had been more grateful for owning a dog when he was younger; it made the dragon so much easier to read.

 

Open its mouth as if it wanted to speak, the dragon let out a deep growl. It sounded threatening, but by the dragon’s reaction, it was meant as something far less threatening. Maybe something like a ‘you’re welcome’. For a brief moment, a panicked expression passed the dragon’s face before it recklessly dived down with his head.

 

Letting out a panicked yell, Michele scrambled backwards. His side burned with pain- enough to subdue his previous panic and replaced with agony. “I should never become a knight,” Michele muttered to no-one in particular, lifting up his shirt to inspect his bandages. His wound, thankfully, hadn’t started to bleed again. Or, at least, there were no signs of that yet. He had wrapped himself tightly and thickly, not trying to save any- the dragon had enough bandages in stock to patch up an entire army, so maybe it was hard to see if he bled.

 

In his haste to check on his injury, he hadn’t noticed what the dragon had done. Actually, the dragon had been completely and utterly forgotten for a brief moment. That was till something rolled against his feet, coming to a stop. Changing his attention from his injury to his feet, Michele noticed an apple laying at his feet- and he was pretty sure that his food pile had no apples left. Actually, when he finally bothered to look at the situation, Michele saw an entire trail of food scattered between him and his own pile of food- who had grown significantly. Eventually, his gaze moved up to meet the dragon’s gaze.

 

Its head was cocked slightly to the right; an apologetic look was clearly visible on its face. Probably, in its excitement, the dragon had forgotten it was a 10-foot-tall dragon while Michele was a significantly smaller human being, who apparently would be startled by such a sudden movement.

 

“Apology accepted,” Michele mumbled, feeling guilty for making the dragon feel bad. It hadn’t done anything wrong- or at least not on purpose. “But why the food? Humans can’t eat that much; you know?”

 

The dragon nodded knowingly. His guilt was replaced by worry. Lowering his head slowly- avoiding scaring Michele again- the dragon’s his snout fell into Michele’s lap, nose gently nudging his stomach. How did it- that didn’t matter. Michele was astonished by how observant, and apparently intelligent the creature was- or at least how much it knew about humans.

 

“You want me to eat more?” Michele asked. The dragon made small, nodding movements, his head still laying in Michele’s lap. “Because I eat too little?”

 

That was a no. “I don’t understand,” Michele whispered, carefully reaching out to pet the dragon’s snout. “You’re a dragon- you aren’t supposed to understand human speech.”

 

The dragon made a shrugging motion, almost causing Michele to topple back due to the sudden shift in weight. “For an oversized lizard- you’re pretty smart.”

 

It seemed that Michele’s comment wasn’t exactly appreciated by the dragon, as it huffed loudly, warm air almost scorching Michele’s borrowed clothes. “Okay- dragon, not an oversized lizard,” Michele corrected, picking up the apple that still laid at his feet. “Now happy?” Michele took a bite of the apple, mirroring the dragon’s critical look.

 

Content, the dragon retreated and returned to his own pile of food, which was significantly smaller than before. Okay- having dinner with a dragon was definitely odder than getting food poisoning or meeting angelic women.

 

Not wanting another lap full of dragon and a disapproving look, Michele munched on his apple. He might as well make the best of his stay, as he surely wouldn’t be going anywhere soon- especially if the dragon kept on babying him like that. It probably was a woman- perhaps the dragon equivalent of Sara. Nevertheless, Michele wouldn’t have to worry that anything would happen to him anytime soon- unless he upset the dragon that is.

 

~*~

 

It was two days into his stay in the cave Michele realised that for starters, he never had introduced himself to the dragon. Yes, _introducing_ himself to a dragon. Though, to be fair- he wouldn’t have bothered if the dragon didn’t understand human speech. So, he had introduced himself to the dragon as Michele _and_ , the dragon had tried to introduce itself, but that didn’t come further than growling sounds and a slightly frightened Michele.

 

But, that made Michele realise that if the dragon could understand human speech, it possibly could _read_. Plus, it also had a concept of time, of life, a way of thinking that went much further than just the primal instincts most animals possessed.

 

“Hey, dragon,” Michele asked, sitting down close to where it had laid down, probably trying to take a nap that Michele was keeping it from. “Are you male or female?”

 

The dragon looked up, blinking slowly at him. It made a shrugging movement- and Michele realised that he should give the dragon a yes or no question- as it couldn’t speak, but it could nod or shake its head.

 

“Are you female?” the dragon shook its head. “So, you’re male?” it nodded.

 

So his theory of it being a mommy dragon had been wrong. It would’ve been logical, as it- well, he, had been very protective over Michele as if Michele was its own child. But not it turned out that it was a male, those instincts didn’t seem to fit.

 

“Okay- you’re a male dragon, good to know,” Michele chuckled nervously. “So you aren’t a mother dragon- thank heavens.”

 

The dragon offered him a confused look but thankfully didn’t force an explanation out of Michele. After all, it wouldn’t have been the first time he had done that- the dragon liked butting his head against Michele’s chest for whatever reason. He still didn’t speak fluently dragon- if that would even ever happen.

 

Picking up one of the few fruits that had survived breakfast, Michele started to peel the skin. It somehow was satisfying, like plucking grass while sitting in the sun. “So, do you also have an age or are you like- ancient? A few thousand years old and stopped counting a long time ago?”

 

He really should stop asking these questions. After all- the dragon had made it clear he couldn’t talk- despite his best attempts to. The poor thing just made a shrugging motion, something he had done a lot of times in the last two days. Michele couldn’t blame him- he wasn’t making it much easier for the dragon, at all.

 

“Okay- different approach,” Michele mumbled, munching on the abused piece of fruit. Food was food- and being used to eat a little, having plenty was like a wish come true. Even if his diet solely excited out of fruits. “I’m twenty-five,” he started, sharing a piece of information of himself. “Are you around my age? Think about plus minus five years.”

 

Michele was pretty sure the dragon was frowning. However, that expression soon replaced by excitement. The dragon nodded hurriedly, tail moving around like an overly excited dog. “So- you’re my age- older?” no- which meant he probably was younger than Michele, which was kind of odd. He was having a one-sided conversation with a dragon who wasn’t older than Michele. Though thankfully, he was also an adult, as he was twenty-years-old or older. It would have been awkward if the dragon had been a young child.

 

“I’m going to stupidly guess, just nod if I’m right,” the dragon nodded in confirmation.

 

“Twenty-five?” that was a no- so the dragon _was_ younger than Michele. “Twenty?” another no- so that left only four possibilities. “Twenty-one?”

 

A yes. The dragon was twenty-one years old. That was so wild- if the dragon had been a human, it could have been someone Michele knew from the city, a peer probably as, for whatever reason, Michele always had stuck to the younger crowd. Nearly all his friends were younger than him, some by a few years, others by a handful of years. It was weird, being one of the oldest amongst his friends. But it was nice to hear that the dragon was at least not his age and not like a small child or some crazy old, wise guy. As far as age mattered for a dragon.

 

Michele wanted to know more. But that was difficult- the dragon understood him, that was established by now- but it couldn’t speak. Trying to figure out a name would take a lot of time- too much time. There were just too many names out there and honestly, Michele wasn’t in the mood to recite the alphabet each time to figure out the next letter. What if the dragon had a crazy long name Michele had never heard of? He would never figure that one out.

 

“Thank you, for answering all that,” the dragon made an almost barking-like sound, which probably was his way of sounding happy about Michele’s ‘thank you’. It was silly, thanking a dragon for stuff like that, but Michele considered that this was the best way to get to know the creature. He had time to kill- his injury would at least take another week-and-a-half to recover enough for Michele to even _consider_ leaving. A way to spend his time was getting to know the dragon.

 

Though, that wasn’t his sole reason. Also, but that was more a gist than anything else, Michele had the feeling the dragon was lonely. Most people, including himself if he hadn’t been critically injured, would head tails the moment the dragon even approached them. Despite that the dragon wasn’t mean-looking, he was still scary looking. An oversized lizard trying to- at least in your mind- murder you and eat you for breakfast. Any brave knight with a proper set of brains would run as if hell was on their heels, especially hearing all the rumours surrounding the dragon. That they were false was an entirely different story- but people feared the unknown, and honestly, a dragon was something that could be considered unknown territory.

 

“Hey, you know,” mumbling, Michele started to pick on a piece of worn curtains. “If you want to know anything about me, you can ask- or, well, try to,” for whatever reason Michele kept on forgetting that the dragon couldn’t speak. Maybe because he wasn’t used to talking to someone that couldn’t speak, or maybe because he wasn’t used to doing all the speaking himself. He wasn’t much of a talker, after all. “If you’re interested- of course,” Michele hesitated. “Are you?”

 

To his surprise, the dragon nodded enthusiastically, no longer bothering to take his afternoon nap. Apparently, he considered Michele a lot more interesting that napping- which was a first. Usually, Michele bore people to no end- very little people liked to spend time with him. But this was a dragon, he probably found anything human-related fascinating. After all, Michele knew someone that probably would _kill_ , yes, actually kill to see a real-life dragon. Well, kill anything but the dragon- his friend would probably throw herself in the debts of hell to be in Michele’s place right now.

 

The dragon made a huffing noise that Michele recognised as ‘hurry up’. Maybe he was spacing out a bit too much, too caught up in the whirlwind of thoughts. Though, in all honesty, with little to do, it was easy to reflect on life and get all philosophical. Especially considering Michele never had much spare time to use for pondering. He was always working, working to pay the rent of their home, even when his parents were still alive. This was almost like a holiday; a holiday you would spend with that one person you never met but were forced with to share a room. But in the end, they were an okay guy because he didn’t snore and brought food with him. Though, Emil _did_ snore a little.

 

“For starters, I’m very boring- my life isn’t exactly exciting,” Michele admitted, offering an apologetic look. “But to be honest, you probably find everything interesting,” the dragon nodded happily and shuffled closer, his head nearly laying in Michele’s lap. “Hmm- I could talk about my family if you want?”

 

Nodding enthusiastically, the dragon made himself comfortable, it was about to be told a bedtime story. Okay, there goes nothing. “Well, both my parents passed away- mum was a healer and dad was a merchant. They died in an accident- but it wasn’t too bad. After all, both me and Sara were already adults when that happened. Of course, we were sad, but we were old enough to take care of ourselves. It never was easy, but we managed. Though I think the sole reason I managed to keep on going for so long is because of Sara. And let me tell you, Sara is a wonderful woman, she...”

 

Without Michele noticing, the dragon started to doze off, eyes closing slowing as Michele kept on rambling about his sister. Not that he had the focus to see that the dragon dozing off. He himself was also getting drowsy, the cave comfortably warm due to the spring sun. He hadn’t napped in the afternoon in ages- but there was always a time to pick up a habit, even if it was a bad one. Also, it wasn’t like he was the only one that sleeps through the afternoon- the dragon did it on an almost daily base.

 

Laying down, Michele curled up, picking up a piece of fabric to drape over himself. As long as the dragon was there, whenever awake or asleep, there was no need to worry about security. Bandits would be suicidal to even come close to the cave, even considering Emil was pretty harmless. While Michele still wondered why the dragon bothered to protect him, he wasn’t complaining. It was nice, for once, to actually have a few days of peace without having to worry over money, the lack of food or having to accept of friends.

 

~*~

 

After maybe three or four days into recovery, Michele realised that he disliked doing nothing. Yes, he didn’t mind not having to work any second that the sun was shining, but doing _nothing_ didn’t suit him. It made him grow fidgety and there was the ache to do something. When he had voiced his concerns to the dragon, all he got was a ‘no’ and a stare that reminded him an awful lot of Sara. The ‘don’t you dare to disobey me’ stare his sister had basically mastered of the course of the years.

 

So, Michele had been stuck inside the cave- unable to do anything- until he brilliantly had found a way to make the best of his time. He could spend his time figuring out a way to communicate with the dragon and, foremost, give the dragon the opportunity to talk _back_. Not literally speaking, but communicate back with just more than a nod, a shake of his head or a vague body gestured that was supposed to be a shrug. Eventually, the idea had saved his bored ass, and thankfully, the dragon trusted him enough to let him borrow one of the daggers that were stuffed in a dark corner. It was rusty and clearly not fit for combat anymore, but it would serve Michele just right.

 

It took him three days to carve out the entirety of the alphabet _and_ all the numbers out of wood. It would have been quicker if he knew how to use a dagger properly, knew how to carve wood, and if finding wood was easy. It wasn’t, as he didn’t dare to venture too far from the cave. Both because the dragon would get uneasy and Michele knew he wouldn’t survive out there for too long. His injury surely would act up, and the fresh smell of blood would probably attract predators. But in the end, it was time well spent in his opinion, even if the work was sloppy at best. Leo- one of the local carpenters and Michele’s friend- probably would cry if he saw what Michele had done to some excellent wood. But thankfully Leo wasn’t there to criticise him or his woodwork.

 

“It’s done,” Michele announced in triumph, holding up the zero he had carved out- or at least tried to carve out. The corners and round lines were still the hardest things to carve out, but it at least looked like a zero. “Now we can properly communicate, somewhat.”

 

It would be a lie to say the dragon wasn’t curious. He peered at the piece of wood Michele held up, eyes widening in recognition. “You can read, right?” Michele never had been happier to see the dragon nod. Otherwise, his time had been wasted- till some degree. He at least had practised wood crafting and probably could show off his mad skills to Leo.

 

Gathering the pieces- he hadn’t realised how much there were till his arms were completely filled with maybe ten letters or so- Michele propped them against the wall in the alphabetical order, trying to make it easier for the dragon to find the right letter. After all, everyone was taught the alphabet from A till Z and not in some random-ass order.

 

After making sure the letters were neatly arranged, Michele started at the dragon expectedly. “Uhm- what’s your name? You can use the letters in one way or another- if that helps.”

 

The dragon seemed to be touched by Michele’s gestured for a brief moment, though excitement soon took ever. Excited like a kid that got a new toy, the dragon swung his tail around, eventually managed to control the limb in such way that it was pointing at the first wood-carved letter. The E. So his name started with an E- that was a start. The other three letters followed soon after the E. There was an N- which the dragon hurriedly corrected into an M. A I followed, and the dragon finished off with the L, nodding excitedly when Michele jotted down the last letter in a patch of dirt. It wasn’t a long-ass, confusing name. It was a short, easy to remember kind of name, which meant Michele could have figured it out a long time ago if he bothered to try.

 

“So you name is Emil?” Michele questioned. The dragon nodded happily. So, Emil it was. Surprisingly human name for a dragon- he almost had expected some kind of fantasy name, like Forestbreath or Springborn. On the other hand, he had no idea if dragons even named their children- _if_ there were more dragons than just Emil. How did a dragon even get a name? Did they just come across one and decided that _yes, this is the one I like_?

 

Carefully walking up to Emil, Michele reached out to his snout, fingers carefully touching the scales, patting them. “Nice to adequately meet you, Emil,” Michele whispered, feeling his heart swell as the dragon looked shocked in the best way possible.

 

He should have known that Emil is basically an oversized dog. But caught in the moment, Michele had forgotten and was now paying the price for it. With too much force, the dragon pushed his snout against Michele’s chest, causing him to fall backwards and land on his behind. Emil, however, didn’t seem to worry too much. The dragon made content noises, nuzzling his snout against Michele’s chest.

 

“Be careful, you idiot,” Michele grunted, running his fingers along Emil’s snout. “I’m the one injured here- the last thing I want is to start bleeding out again.”

 

Emil retreated, making apologetic noises. Michele caught himself smiling- what was the last time he had genuinely smiled? A long time ago- far too long. Maybe this task wasn’t so bad after all- maybe was a time alone in the forest stuck with a dragon exactly what he needed. And otherwise, he would have an amazing story to tell later.

 

~*~

 

Giving Emil the opportunity to, well, properly communicate opened a few doors for them. Michele no longer had to play the guessing game, like guess every colour there was till he found the one that was actually the dragon’s favourite. Instead, Emil himself spends his afternoon spelling out facts about him- like his favourite colour. It was purple- not Michele’s eye purple but more of lavender- the same colour as the flowers that bloomed close to the cave. In return, Michele had told Emil his favourite colour was yellow, sunflower yellow because, for whatever reason, Sara’s favourite flowers were sunflowers due to their high status and bright, brilliant colour.

 

Continuing that topic- it turned out that Emil had a sister- she was a few years older than him. While certainly happy to hear that Emil had siblings- he couldn’t imagine a life without Sara- it was also slightly terrifying. So there were other dragons than Emil. Though, the question remained was why Emil was all on his own. The dragon had been living in the forest for about five years at least, which meant he started to live here when he was probably sixteen, maybe even younger. That wasn’t really old- at all. And while grand, the cave wasn’t suited for an entire dragon family. Maybe two, but definitely not four.

 

Eventually, nearly two weeks into his stay, Michele’s thoughts had wandered off to chase impossible ideas. What if Emil wasn’t a dragon- at least not originally? Dragon’s weren’t supposed to know human speech, and definitely not being able to read. Someone could have taught Emil to read, but Michele somewhat doubted that. Otherwise, there would have been evidence of another human being having lived in the cave. Or, at least, Michele’s idea to work with carved out letters wouldn’t have surprised Emil that much. Because that seemed to only logical way to teach a 10-foot tall lizard how to read. Yet, that’s when his thoughts kind of became a mess. _If_ Emil wasn’t a dragon, which was a possibility, what else could he be. A dog? A _Human_?

 

Till some degree, it made sense. Emil acted in ways people acted- the need to eat around breakfast, lunch and dinner- snacking through the day, sleeping during the afternoon because sleep was nice. He was curious, highly intelligent for an animal, craved Michele’s presence for whatever reason, enjoyed having a conversation with Michele. He was a social creature, which wasn’t weird. Horses and dogs were also social creatures, but Emil felt… different. Maybe he should spend more time educating himself if he really wanted to theorise like that.

 

Long story short, Emil, possibly, could have been human. Or a dog but that didn’t explain the capability of reading. But that’s where is theory came to an end.

 

 _If_ Emil was human, the most likely thing was that he had been cursed- though Michele wondered who wanted to curse someone like Emil. He would be an absolutely precious human being- probably very energetic considering the dragon’s enthusiastic responses to, well, _everything_ and just an overall nice guy. That would explain why Emil had bothered to save _him_ , a _knight_ , of all people, take him under his wing. Surely others had tried to kill Emil, so what would be the chance that Michele was any different? Slim, that was the chance, yet the dragon had risked it. So, Emil would be an odd victim to be cursed, especially considering the curse.

 

Michele was till some degree knowledgeable on curses. A curse wasn’t necessary harmful, the could also be just something annoying. For example, a friend of his sister and an acquaintance of his, once cursed him to talk in couplets for a whopping two hours. They were pretty harmless and could be casted by anyone who bothered to learn the odd craft. But a curse like this was probably casted by a powerful sorcerer. And with the reputation magic had, there weren’t that many sorcerers, not to mention _powerful_ sorcerers.

 

Magic was a thing that was heavily shunned on. It was a craft mainly practised by the brave souls who didn’t give a fuck or the ones who wanted power- also the whole reason magic was feared and despised. Magic could be used for a lot of bad things, an _awful_ lot of bad things. Hence why the misuse of magic was heavily punished. This made things all the more confusing.

 

If you were caught for misusing magic, you had written your own death sentence. There was no mercy, no chance for redemption. You were written off as dead. Which meant that nobody was crazy enough to use magic for evil unless they really wanted to make a statement- or if someone really managed to tick off the user. This raised the question: how had Emil managed to tick off someone that powerful?

 

Or Michele was simply reading way too much into the whole thing, and Emil was just a friendly dragon. So, despite considering that there might be some truth in his endless whirlwind of thoughts and theories, Michele decided to put the whole theory on hold. He wasn’t a curse breaker- nor someone who ever wanted to dab in that world. He would leave that the crazy ones- as far as he _wasn’t_ crazy.

 

Carefully approaching the napping dragon, Michele sat down and leant against the crook of Emil’s neck. Maybe a day-or-so ago, Michele had figured out that most of Emil’s body, minus his snout, was comfortably warm and smooth, making it the perfect surface to sleep against. It was at least better than the rock-solid ground with only a thin layer of fabric covering them.

 

“Hey buddy,” Michele whispered, softly running his hand across the smooth scales. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure things out.”

 

Emil snored and repositioning himself to make it more comfortable for Michele. Yeah, right, Emil was a human, and he was a unicorn. Maybe his fruits-only diet was getting to him, making him feel all healthy and intelligent all of the sudden. Knights weren’t smart- never have been and never will be. The smart people would try to be a scholar if they got the money for that. Because nobody with some brains would try to slay a 10-foot-tall dragon.

 

~*~

 

For someone who claims he isn’t stupid, Michele might have forgotten about one essential thing. Sara. He had been too busy focussing on recovering to return home to _realise_ that Sara had no idea whenever he was alive or death- because if things had gone according to plan, he would have returned home about two weeks ago. And, if Sara had been like any ordinary maiden, she would have stayed at home and wept quietly, mourning her brother’s death. Sadly enough, Sara wasn’t an ordinary maiden.

 

It was day sixteen of his stay with Emil. His cut was almost fully healed, the flesh surrounding it only a little tender. Michele thanked his luck that it hadn’t gotten infected- though he had a feeling that the ointment he had found was the real thing to thank. Emil, thankfully, had approved of him leaving- till some degree. Emil had clearly looked upset when Michele had announced he would be leaving soon but didn’t try to keep Michele there with him, thankfully. The dragon even went as far as help Michele gather some items and foremost, food.

 

Michele had been carefully wrapping fruits for his travel- denting them would cause them to spoil earlier than was appreciated- when Emil grew all rigid, ears flickering, picking up sounds Michele couldn’t hear. But, Michele had a gist. Someone was close-by, approaching probably, and as Emil probably never had actually faced humans before, this must be new territory for the dragon.

 

“Humans?” Michele whispered, carefully touching Emil’s flank- letting the dragon know he was there for him. Emil nodded slowly, avoiding moving around too much. The dragon was scared.

 

Leaving the dragon’s side, Michele picked up his sword. He hadn’t touched it ever since Emil had retrieved it- it didn’t felt right to run around with a sword when there was no danger- no treat. “Listen, Emil,” he started, walking past the dragon, sword at the ready for usage. He probably at least could scare away any threat if he were lucky- or maybe it was just a poor lost traveller who accidentally stumbled upon Emil’s cave. Nevertheless, the presence of an another human, him, might make things easier- or not, but it was a risk Michele was willing to take. “I’ll go outside and try to distract our company- try to chase them away so you can escape. In no circumstances come out till you know there is nobody left, got it?”

 

Without a doubt, Emil wasn’t happy with his idea. The dragon huffed, looking very disapproving, but also defeated. After all, he had no reason to keep Michele there- the knight was fully healed and fit for travelling _and_ battling. If it hadn’t been for their sudden company, Michele probably would have finished packing and could have left already.

 

In the end, Emil nodded and retreated further into the cave, hiding out of sight. People had to _enter_ the cave to find the dragon, which was all the disguise Emil needed right now. Because nobody in their right mind would actually enter a cave while knowing that there was a _dragon_ roaming the forest grounds.

 

Michele snuck out of the cave into the open sun. It was a chilly morning- the sun had yet to warm up the air. Maybe he should have dressed warmer- bare arms weren’t exactly cut out for this weather. Nevertheless, this would have to do- it was foolish to head back into the cave.

 

“Who’s there,” Michele asked loudly, hoping that he could keep his voice steady and in control. If it was just a lost traveller, they would come out immediately, relieved to see actually see a human face that probably didn’t belong to a bandit. If it was a knight trying to slay the dragon, well... Michele had to use his terrific swordsman skills to overpower them. Of course, it also could be a bandit, but Michele had a gist that bandits avoided the dragon’s cave like the plague, scared for their life- unnecessary so, but Michele wasn’t complaining.

 

Michele was prepared for a lot, but he definitely wasn’t prepared for a crossbow carrying maiden to stumble out of the bushes, weapon at the ready to shoot him down. Neither was he prepared for the fact that said maiden was nobody else than Sara. His baby sister Sara who never had used a weapon her life before, his baby sister Sara who used to have nightmares about monsters under her bed. The very same sister who looked like she could take on the world- or at least a dragon to find out what happened to her brother.

 

“Sara?” Michele asked, the grip on his sword loosening for a brief moment- a brief moment in which Michele realised that even his sister could harm Emil. “What are you doing here?”

 

Sara dropped the crossbow like it was a piece of cheap wood. Michele lowered his sword as Sara tackled him an embrace, an embrace that was strong enough to throw him down, losing his sword along the way. The clattering of the weapon was dull against the forest floor- yet Michele hoped that Emil didn’t hear it. Otherwise, the dragon might think he was in trouble, which he definitely wasn’t.

 

“I assumed you were dead,” Sara sobbed, burying her face into his shoulder. “The bandits said you were probably eaten by the dragon- how did you manage to survive that?” the woman retreated, tears-filled eyes stared straight back at him. “You couldn’t possibly have slain it- have you? They also said you were critically injured- so you were most definitely dragon food.”

 

While Michele wanted to explain, there was another more urgent matter that he wanted to discuss. “You talked with bandits? Are you insane?” Michele scolded. “They could have killed you- they almost killed me, and I’m _trained_ to fight.”

 

Sitting on his lap, Sara glared at him; her lips were pursed together into a pout. “I shot them in the legs, of course,” she explained as if it was a logical answer. “They tried to rob me, but I wasn’t having none of that. Therefore, I shot them in the leg and asked if they had seen you. Eventually, they answered...” a quiet sob followed. “How aren’t you dead? They said you were most likely dead- and if I wanted to find your remains I had to seek out the dragon’s cave, somewhere around here,” Sara gestured to the mountain range that painted the backdrop.

 

“Well- I got lucky,” Michele answered quietly, not sure how to tell Sara the news that the dragon was the one who had _saved_ him from death.

 

Sara apparently didn’t buy it. “How did you get so lucky to survive a dragon?” she asked in disbelief, doubt strong in her voice. “So many people have died in the past five years because of the dragon, what makes you different?”

 

“I wasn’t stupid,” the answer was simple. All those deaths in past never had been caused by the dragon but by both the bandits and humans their own stupidity. Michele probably wasn’t the first one Emil had tried to save from bandits- but unlike the rest, Michele didn’t stupidly flee, basically signing their own deaths. The forest was vast, with many dangers. Bandits, wolves, bears and other animals that smelled blood and decided that this would be their next meal. “That’s it. I wasn’t stupid and used my brain- which had saved my life.”

 

“But how did you outrun the dragon? How did you escape it?” Sara asked, voice thick with curiosity.

 

Michele smiled weakly. “I didn’t, that was the mistake the rest made- running away from their only chance of surviving.”

 

“What do you-” Sara’s jaw dropped. “You’re saying that the dragon _saved_ you? Why?”

 

“Because... well, I don’t know why- it’s just his personality, I guess,” Michele shrugged, wondering why exactly Emil had saved him. Probably because Emil was a goodhearted person and didn’t want to see people die- that was the most logical explanation and, foremost, the most fitting explanation.

 

Sara remained quiet, brows drawn together in concentration. She probably was trying to find the logic in the whole thing- and while usually, Michele would encourage this, he rather would have her gone. Gone so Emil had the opportunity to escape- as this wouldn’t work. Michele had his back at the cave, and Sara didn’t so she could see Emil immediately. The cat would be out of the bag, and Michele had to keep a vicious Sara in check. After all, hearing how she had shot two bandits without hesitation, she probably wouldn’t have any issues shooting at a dragon.

 

“Wait- he?” Sara questioned, a bewildered look on her face. “How do you know that it’s a he?”

 

“Because it’s a he,” Michele answered slowly, deciding that the easiest thing to do right now was introducing Sara to Emil and vice versa. “Just- I’ll explain, as long as you let _me_ carry the weapons.”

 

It was clear as day that Sara didn’t like his idea, but she complied. The seamstress got up, grabbed the crossbow and handed it over to Michele. Ignoring the pain in his legs- Sara used to be a lot lighter when she was smaller and liked to sit on his lap- Michele got up, gathered his sword and took Sara’s crossbow. With his free hand, Michele guided Sara to the cave, making sure that both weapons were out his sister’s reach.

 

“Listen- don’t freak out,” Michele started as they stood at the mouth of the cave. “He’s a bit scary at first sight, but Emil doesn’t hurt a fly.”

 

The name ‘Emil’ silently passed Sara’s lips, but Michele no longer waited. He pushed Sara inside the cave, following immediately after.

 

“Don’t worry- she’s harmless,” Michele hurriedly said, not even having to seek out Emil’s face to know that the dragon was nervous. “Well, she can bite but-”

 

Like expected, Sara froze on the spot. Her gaze was focused on Emil, who stared straight back at her with fear and mild curiosity.

 

“Emil, this is my sister Sara,” Michele patted his sister on her head with his free hand. “Sara, this is Emil- the sole reason I’m still alive.”

 

“Have you hit your head or something,” Sara hissed, eyes narrowed in hot anger. “A dragon- saving your life? And why introducing me as if he can understand you?”

 

Emil made a whining noise and Sara froze, realisation slowly taking over her angry expression. “Wait- he can _understand_ us?”

 

“Yes, Sara, Emil can understand _and_ read human language.” Sara was left flabbergasted, staring at the dragon in shock.

 

“I thought you had made up the name Emil,” Sara admitted, her cheeks growing red out of embarrassment. “But that’s your real name, isn’t it?”

 

The dragon nodded slowly, realising that Sara was no longer acting hostile towards him.

 

Sara took a few shaky breaths, before she stepped forward, carefully approaching the dragon. When she was close enough, the girl hesitantly reached out her hand, as if she wanted to pet him.

 

Emil’s gaze flickered over to him, basically asking if it was safe to lower his head and let Sara pet him. Michele nodded and slowly but steadily, Emil dropped his head till Sara’s fingertips grazed his scales.

 

“Thank you, Emil,” Sara whispered, patting the snout gently. “For saving my brother's life- taking care of him. That idiot is very stubborn, so he probably would have killed himself it wasn't for you.”

 

Emil let out a keening noise, enthusiastically pressing his snout against Sara’s stomach. His sister let out a high-pitched screech in alarm but eventually managed to recover and not scramble away in panic.

 

“He likes to do that,” Michele explained, not even holding back his laughter. “Be happy he has to decency to hit your stomach and not your chest.”

 

Giggling awkwardly, Sara ran her fingers over the smooth scales of Emil’s snout- a certain level of warmth in her smile. “What does it means, if he does that.”

 

“He’s either disapproval or it’s his way of hugging- I think it’s the latter in this case,” Michele explained- remembering that he had been on both ends of the weird chest bump.

 

This time, Sara’s laugh was much more genuine as she basically cooed over Emil, thanking the dragon over and over again for taking care of Michele’s stubborn ass. Emil, in return, seemed pretty content- judging by the dragon’s body language. Well, his travel back home might be delayed for a bit- as Sara surely want to hear the entire story and not just bits and pieces.

 

~*~

 

If it hadn’t been for Emil’s presence, Sara would have right up murdered him right there in Emil’s cave. She had looked murderous when he stupidly admitted wandering off path- deciding that his destination had to be close-by. Of course, he purposely had left out the details that he originally had intended to _slay_ Emil- and thankfully, Sara had caught up onto that. She didn’t cut him any slack though.

 

“Mickey,” Sara scolded, eyes narrowed in a glare. They had planned to leave at sunrise- after staying for the night in the cave. At first, Sara hadn’t been too happy with the idea, but eventually decided that it was better to leave at sunrise and only having to sleep one night in the forest, instead of two. Now, they were inching close to noon- Michele managed to buy as much time as possible. He _didn_ _’t_ want to leave for whatever stupid reason- but it seemed that Sara didn’t agree with him. “We were supposed to leave at sunrise- not sunset,” the girl added, stomping her foot in annoyance.

 

To Michele’s annoyance, it seemed that Emil was siding with Sara. The dragon openly stared at him in a disapproving way, not even fazed when Michele glared back at him. He was surprised at Emil let him go that easily- what if he never came back again? Then Emil would be all on his own, again, for god knows how long. Maybe a few years, maybe a decade. No-one knew- well, no-one except Michele and Sara- who knew the dragon was pretty much harmless.

 

“Okay- fine,” Michele muttered, glaring at Emil. “I’ll go, are you now happy?”

 

Emil nodded happily, though Michele noticed that it wasn’t the dragon’s normal, dog-like happiness. He probably was going to miss Michele- considering that he had been the dragon’s only company for a while.

 

“Wait, Mickey!” Sara sounded furious. Rolling his eyes, mouthing siblings to Emil before turning to Sara, Michele eyed his sister with an exhausted look. She looked as mad as she sounded.

 

“What?” he asked grumpily, not ready to deal with a cranky Sara.

 

She stared at him as if he was kidding her. “You don’t listen to me, but you _do_ listen to a dragon?”

 

“Maybe- Emil is the mother-hen here- okay?” it sounded far less embarrassing in his head. Emil wasn’t even a mother-hen. Otherwise, he would never have let Michele go- but that didn’t matter. Michele was still mad that Sara thought it was a great idea to travel through a dangerous forest with only a _crossbow_ she had no idea on how to use.

 

Sara huffed, but visibly relaxed- a little. “You’re just angry that I ‘foolishly’ followed your stupid ass into a forest to make sure you’re okay.”

 

“Of course I’m upset,” Michele snapped back, glaring daggers at her. “You could have _died_. I nearly died, and I’m supposed to be a well-trained knight who knows _how_ to defend themselves. I mean, if it hadn’t been for Emil I would have been dead.”

 

Now Sara was pissed. “I know that,” she yelled back, looking ready to murder Michele. “That’s why I was so worried- it was such a close call- for what? You disappeared off the face of the earth for two weeks, and you have been having a sleepover with a dragon?”

 

“I was healing-” Michele fumed. “I mean- I wouldn’t have made it a mile with _this_ ,” without hesitation, Michele yanked up his shirt, revealing the white scar and the tender flesh surrounding it. “I wanted to go home- but I wanted to _come_ back alive.”

 

Sara looked away, face pulled together in discomfort. She clearly wasn’t happy being reminded of that- even as there wasn’t much to see anymore. They should just leave- get home, reassure their friends that they aren’t dead.

 

“We should just go,” Michele suggested, trying to soften his expression. “We all had a rough day- and I think Emil will be happy to have us out of his hair- well, cave.”

 

No- Emil wasn’t happy with that, that was clearly heard by the whining noise the dragon made. Nevertheless, Michele knew that this was the best thing to do- first of all, humans and dragons weren’t supposed to mix- also, maybe, if they were unlucky, the would send out a search party to find Sara. Michele was already written off as dead- so he was no issue- but Sara was still very much alive _and_ a maiden. Knights threw themselves into danger if it included a pretty maiden- and Sara probably was a beautiful maiden. Nevertheless, whenever Sara was beautiful or not, she was a girl, and the last thing Michele wanted was an entire group of soldier knocking on their doorstep- cave door- whatever to save Sara’s ass.

 

Sara, thankfully, agreed. Though she left Michele baffled as she picked up both his and her bag, heading for the cave opening. “Use your time wisely, Mickey,” Sara said cheekily. “Now you can say your proper goodbye to your favourite dragon.”

 

Michele felt his face explode with warmth- and by the sound of it, Emil was also caught off guard by Sara’s sudden announcement. It sounded almost like two lovers were going their separated ways and were unable to see each other for a long time- which was both silly and slightly disturbing. Emil was a dragon- maybe human turned dragon, but he still was a _dragon_.

 

Checking if Sara was actually gone, Michele walked up to Emil, not even trying to be careful. It was sort of amazing how easily Michele had received Emil’s trust- on the other hand- it wasn’t like Michele ever had tried to do something out of line- at least as far as he was aware of.

 

“Hey, Emil,” it sounded so much better to use a name than throwing around ‘dragon’. “I promise I’ll be back some day,” he muttered, running his fingers gently along Emil’s snout. “And I’ll try to find out a solution, if necessary.”

 

Emil cocked his head, eyes set in confusion. Maybe he had been wrong after all. “I’ll see if I can break this curse- or at least figure out if you’re cursed or I’ve spend too much time between the scented candles and gibberish talking about potions.”

 

Caught up in his own stupidly, Michele didn’t notice Emil’s shocked expression. “I should find better friends,” Michele admitted, pressing his face against Emil’s snout. “Don’t ever befriend the crazy people- try to find normal friends, so you aren’t stuck with a wannabee-sorceress, a carpenter, a healer-in-training and a co-worker you want to kill nine of out of the ten times.”

 

It was somewhat easier to leave after that. Now he had promised that he would return. After all, it probably was perfectly safe to travel to Emil’s cave as long as you stuck close to the mountains and in Emil’s territory.

 

Michele wished Emil one last goodbye, grateful that there weren’t any tears spilled. There was no reason to- he would see Emil again- and it wasn’t like he was saying goodbye to a long-time lover. Sara made it sound like that, but Emil was just a stranger he met a two-and-a-half week ago, and surely, he could just pick up his life again and continue. Till some degree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end of chapter 1! I hope it was an enjoyable read- I did spend some time on editing, but as this was quite the piece I surely missed some stuff (and I was too lazy to get my hands on a beta reader.) Anyway, chapter 2 will be uploaded tomorrow, as it’s already finished and stuff. Per usual, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated, I think I sold my soul for this so…
> 
> I also hope that I managed to do justice to the prompt as shown in the past, I’m terrible at sticking with prompts. (The story is also partly beauty and the beast influenced as the prompt had the same ‘air’ as that story.)  
>  _Emil was cursed long time ago. The cities were terriꦰed by the presence of this beast in the wood and hired a knight to kill him. Michele started his mission, but found out that the beast is not what he seemed. ___


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's play the game of how many side-characters can you fit in one story and keep their interaction genuine and canon-fitting. (Also how much time can you spend and research Italian Fairy Tales? An entire afternoon apparently.)

Michele wasn’t exactly fond of anything medical related. He knew the basics through his knight training, and he was willing to see the healers if it was necessary. But that was it- he wasn’t going to visit the healers for fun, _especially_ if sharp objects were included. You would have expected for someone who got his side cut open not to be so squeamish about small, pretty harmless tools but alas, Michele still would rather flee than man up and being sown up by a healer.

 

“Mickey- I’m not going stitch it,” Guang Hong, healer-in-training and his friend, mumbled, holding a death grip on his arm. “I’m just checking” the brunet added, his scowl softening slightly.

 

“Why is it necessary? It’s fully healed,” Michele pointed out, hoping to fend off the mothering brunet.

 

“Then you should have no issues showing it to me,” Guang Hong answered sharply, glaring at him. “Now, pull off your shirt or I’ll willing cut it open,” to actually threatened him, Guang Hong had a scalpel at the ready.

 

Visibly swallowing, Michele carefully lifted up his shirt, deposing it on the dining table he sat next to.

 

Relieved that Michele _finally_ cooperated, Guang Hong started to unwrap the bandages. For the sake of travelling, Michele had decided that wrapping it up wouldn’t be a bad thing. It would at least keep everything in place.

 

“Surprisingly, you’re right for once,” Guang Hong mumbled, chucking the ball of bandages in the trashcan. “It has healed nicely- a bit irritated,” gloved fingers gentle run along the tender flesh surrounding the wound. “You really didn’t stitch it up?”

 

“No- I don’t have a steady hand, and there wasn’t any equipment for that,” plus the last thing he wanted was to stab himself with a sharp needle. It was already bad if someone else did that, he wasn’t going to do it himself.

 

“Or you’re just a baby,” the healer pointed out, rummage through his bag for new bandages. “You spend two-and-a-half week with a 10-foot-tall dragon _and_ had your side slashed open. But, if you had the opportunity, stitching yourself up is too much?”

 

The fear was irrational. Sharp things, aside from a sword, never had actually harmed him before. But that didn’t mean he had to like them- embrace them, _own_ them like Guang Hong did. It was hard to believe that his friend probably had a steadier hand then his sister, who was a _seamstress_. She sew things for a living.

 

“I just don’t like small, sharp things, okay,” Michele muttered, lifting up his arms so Guang Hong could re-wrap the bandage. “Having fears is a healthy thing.”

 

Guang Hong hummed approvingly. “Yes, it is,” the brunet admitted. “But it’s weird, you fear something as simple as a needle, but a ten-foot-tall dragon doesn’t even shake you.”

 

“Emil at least didn’t hurt me,” Michele flakily sniffled.

 

“It’s still funny though,” Guang Hong commented slowly, patting Michele’s leg in satisfaction as he finished wrapping up Michele’s injury. “People thought you were dead, killed by the dragon and then one day, you return very well alive and healthy. People still believe that you outrun the dragon and hid from it, or actually slew. It’s kind of ironic that the very same dragon that gave you ‘fame’ is also the reason you’re still here with us.”

 

Ah, yes, the glory. Michele never had agreed with the rumours, confirmed them. But the people kept thinking that Michele was the only one who actually could travel through the forest because he either defeated the dragon or could handle the dragon. It went as far as that a merchant had hired him to travel through the forest with him, to guide him through it. And, like, he had returned only yesterday, crashing his bed almost immediately once unlocking the front door. Not even half the city knew he had returned alive.

 

At first, Michele didn’t want to go, but as he hadn’t earned a single penny in three weeks and Sara missed out about a week’s worth of work, they needed the money desperately. And the merchants paid well, almost too well.

 

“Yeah, well, I don’t care much about the fame,” Michele admitted, rubbing his hands nervously together. “I need the money, and that’s it. I don’t want to do this mission, but I have little choice.”

 

Guang Hong rolled his eyes. “I could keep you here on healer’s orders- I mean, your injury...” two sets of eyes settled on the freshly bandaged scar. That was no reason to keep him here.

 

“I still don’t understand how the wound managed to heal without stitching,” Guang Hong admitted. In all honestly, Michele also had wondered about that, and eventually had settled down on a possible theory.

 

“I think,” Michele said slowly. “I have something else to thank for that.”

 

Getting up, Michele walked over to his still unpacked bag and started to rummage through it. He was pretty sure he had taken the ointment with him. He still wasn’t sure if it was the reason the injury had healed well, but he knew the perfect person to figure it out for him.

 

“You aren’t going to tell me that the dragon- I mean, Emil, has healing powers?” Guang Hong asked in disbelief. Michele had no doubt that healing powers existed till some extend, magic was a thing after all- but a healing dragon was a tad too far-fetched. Only a tad.

 

“Nope,” Michele announced as he found the jar. “Catch,” he tossed the item to Guang Hong, who clumsily caught it. “I found this in Emil’s cave- it’s pretty old but it looked expensive, so I thought it must be pretty decent ointment.”

 

The healer-in-training squinted at the handwriting on it, trying to decipher it after all the years of wear. “It does look expensive,” Guang Hong admitted, curiosity thick in his voice. “Would you mind it if I took it back to work- I want to give it a better look, and that’s where all the records are.”

 

“Sure- why else would I give it to you anyway,” it honestly had been his plan all along. Maybe identifying it would help Michele figure things out about Emil’s curse- if the dragon was cursed at all.

 

“Well, I fear I can’t keep your stubborn ass here,” Guang Hong announced, putting away the jar in his bag. “So as your non-official healer you’re clear to go next week- rest a bit, don’t overeat meat as your body isn’t used to it anymore and you probably are ready to go. If your cut starts to act up, you know where to find me. “

 

Nodding in confirmation, Michele showed his friend the way out. Leaning against the doorframe, waiting for Guang Hong to leave, Michele watched his friend looking rather conflicted, fingers nervously tugged at them of his shirt.

 

“Be safe, okay,” the worry was thick in Guang Hong’s voice. “You were lucky the last time- maybe Emil won’t be there the next time you’ll get in trouble.”

 

“I’ll try- now, hurry before they actually are going to miss you at work.”

 

Actually noticing the time, Guang Hong said a quick goodbye before leaping down the stairs, trying to make it in time for the afternoon shift.

 

~*~

 

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Michele stared at the pile of armour pieces in his arms, unsure what to do with it.

 

His own armour had been left behind in Emil’s cave. It had been rendered useless after his journey into the forest. Though, in all honesty, it already had been old. Seeing how easily the bandits had got through the defences, the metal barely holding its own, years of usage had worn it down.

 

“Of course I’m okay with this,” JJ said loudly, completely obvious to Michele’s stubbornness. “I know you guys are tight on money, your armour got lost in the forest, and you _will_ need a new one for your mission, and as I don’t use it anymore, you can have it. Plus,” JJ grinned. “We’re about as tall as each other, I’m probably a bit taller but-”

 

One of Michele’s glaring weakness was accepting gifts like these. He knew he and Sara were poor, but they didn’t need the help of others, at least, that was what Michele would like to see. It wasn’t how reality worked, not with his stupid friends being way too kind for their own good and with them being annoyingly poor. Without a doubt, life would have been a lot more difficult

 

“How much do you want for it?” Michele examined the armour, deciding that it still looked good. It wasn’t surprising, JJ took a lot of pride in his job, which meant his uniform was always in an excellent condition. Not to mention that JJ had promoted from knight to castle guard, which made the armour Michele currently was holding useless. A castle guard had, after all, a different uniform.

 

“Isabella, dear,” JJ called his wife, waited for a few seconds, before continuing. “How much do you want for the armour?”

 

The young women emerged from upstairs, carrying quite a large stack of fabrics in her arms. “That you come back home alive,” was the woman’s response. “Also, take this with you.”

 

Isabella dropped the fabrics in his arms, smiling motherly. It was kind of funny when you realised that she was about three years younger than either him or Sara, yet she seemed so much more mature than them. Maybe it helped that JJ was her husband. “For Sara,” she added and giving the fabrics another look, Michele could make out a few dresses.

 

“This is way too much,” Michele stuttered, growing flustered in the face. “I can never pay for this.”

 

“Then see it as a belated gift,” Isabella added, hands firmly pressed against her hips with a ‘don’t you dare to argue’ look on her face she usually saved for her husband. “For putting up with JJ when he was a knight-in-training.”

 

JJ protested that he was a delight to work with, but Isabella paid him no mind. “Just accept them, please. They’re showroom models, they won’t be sold anyway, and Sara mentioned she needed new dresses, her old ones are getting, well, _old_.”

 

Though he was still reluctant to accept the clothing, Michele eventually gave in. There was no use fighting against Isabella, he rather would take on JJ on a daily base than having to face Isabella’s wrath only once.

 

“I swear- I’m going to pay you back sooner or later,” Michele muttered. “But, well,” keeping the clothes close to him, Michele threw the married couple a flustered look. “Thanks- for everything.”

 

Isabella waved away his ‘thank you’, offering him a kind smile. “Michele, listen,” it was unusual for anyone to use his real name- most people had stuck with Mickey for whatever reason. “First get your own life on track. Once you finally manage to settle down, you can think about all the favours you think you own people.”

 

It kind of hurt, the way Isabella said it, but she wasn’t wrong. Before his parents had passed away, they managed just fine. There was no luxury, but they managed. But after their passing, it had been hard. Sara worked long days, Michele picked up every job he could, not caring whenever it was below his capabilities, yet, it still wasn’t enough. They had considered moving out, to a smaller, cheaper place, but that also would mean that they would leave behind the last memories they had from their parents. The place they grew up in.

 

“I’ll think about.”

 

~*~

 

Honestly, Michele wasn’t surprised to be, well, ‘paired up’ with _the_ Seung-gil Lee. The guy was a prodigy, easily becoming the best knight in his guild in a matter of years- if he wasn’t already that. If the guy had better social skills, he would have been promoted to guild leader ages ago- but there lied the problem, Seung-gil wasn’t social, at all.

 

“Surprised to see you here, Crispino,” Seung-gil remarked, staring at him coolly. Of course, the merchant who had hired him was intelligent enough to take a proper knight with them- someone with wit and muscles and not just a semi-clever guy who somehow had survived in that cursed forest for two-and-a-half weeks.

 

“Are you really, Lee?” it was no secret that Michele didn’t like Seung-gil. Michele had respect for him, but his sister had some weird liking towards their ex-neighbour, something along the lines that he was absolutely gorgeous. Michele couldn’t see it- but Seung-gil was everything but his type _if_ he had a type. “I survive two-and-a-half weeks in this forest- I know a thing of two more about it than you,” like that it was crawling with bandits and the dragon wasn’t dangerous, at all.

 

A smile tugged Seung-gil lips, which was actually more frightening than his usual scowl. “I hope you do- though I wonder why they would need two knights? Shouldn’t you alone be enough?”

 

Honestly, Michele wanted to be childish and tell Seung-gil that he was only there because somebody needed to wipe his butt, but in all fairness, Michele wouldn’t have been happy if he was the only knight travelling with the merchant. “Because, unlike me, you can actually kick some bandit ass and probably keep us safe while I give instructions where to go.”

 

Seung-gil seemed to be actually taken aback, which Michele considered as a small victory. “Well, there _are_ some brain cells in that head of yours.”

 

Michele sneered at Seung-gil and impatiently waited for the merchants to arrive, freeing Michele from being stuck with mister grumpy who Sara had a weird liking to.

 

 

~*~

 

Okay- Michele must confess that this mission wasn’t the brightest idea after all. Yes, the merchant paid good, but as there hadn’t been people travelling through the woods for years, well... bandits. Michele could feel their eyes following them, their whispers in the trees, yet they hadn’t dared to act. It was odd, as a group large then probably four would easily take them on. They were afraid, it seemed.

 

It was day three, the merchant and his bodyguard were speaking of good fortune, that the bandits weren’t as dangerous as the story made them believe. Michele didn’t comment because he knew better, Seung-gil didn’t comment either, but the knight looked sceptical, clearly not agreeing with them.

 

“There are bandits everywhere,” Seung-gil pointed out, his whisper drowned out by the loud chatter of the merchant and bodyguard. “They whisper- but don’t attack.”

 

Honestly, Michele wasn’t surprised Seung-gil had noticed. There was a reason the guy was a well-honoured knight- people considered him scary- but he was a loyal and skilled knight, something that still was valued a lot. “I know- from day one- but I don’t understand why they-”

 

Whispers, louder than usual caught Michele’s attention and seemingly so Seung-gil’s. His heart skipped a few beats, breathing suddenly became difficult.

 

‘Is that the guy?’

 

‘He doesn’t seem that threatening- maybe it was dumb luck?’

 

‘Should we go in?’

 

Michele didn’t even wait for the answer. He and Seung-gil shared one, quick look before to split up, he taking up the rear and Seung-gil the front.

 

Unsurprisingly, a horde of bandits jumped out the trees, easily circling them. Yeah, scrap the four, there probably were about ten of those guys, all carrying their own weapon of choice. Daggers, swords, even an _axe_. Thankfully no bow-and-arrow, as that could have been tricky.

 

The fight wasn’t particularly fair, but Michele managed to hold his own for a while. However, there was one issue, he had hoped that Emil would save their sorry asses somehow. The dragon had an excellent hearing, he should have heard the clashing of metals as soon as it started. _If_ Emil heard it.

 

It made sense, didn’t it. Back when Michele had been in the forest to slay the dragon, Emil hadn’t reacted till Michele had been injured- so it was the blood that alarmed him. Hence why the bandits were surprisingly careful, trying to avoid actually drawing blood and trying to avoid getting cut themselves.

 

So, it was easy, wanted he to come out victorious, blood had to be shed. Counting on the bandits seemed stupid, as they were clever enough to attack with the blunt side of their weapons- and they had a good guard- good enough to keep themselves unharmed. And as he wasn’t going to yell his plan to everyone and their mothers, Michele knew what to do. Great, did he had to return home with a flesh wound each time he entered the forest?

 

Creating some time for himself, Michele basically slammed into one of the bandits, causing them to stumble into a few of the other bandits. That was probably all the time he needed.  Running his thumb against the blade of his sword, the metal easily broke through his skin. A few moments later, blood was drawn to the surface.

 

When the first bandit caught sight of the blood that ran down his thumb and dripped on the forest floor, Michele knew he had won. The bandit grew ghostly pale, which was no wonder, really. They had passed Emil’s cave yesterday- well, the point from where the path ‘crossed’ the cave- which meant the dragon would come from behind. And guess what direction the wind was blowing? The scent of blood would soon find Michele’s only chance of making it out alive.

 

Seung-gil and the bodyguard remained fighting, oblivious to Michele’s part of the fight. If they hadn’t been, they could have seen the bandits slowly retreating, a panicked look in their eyes. Nobody had to give out a command, they all knew. If blood was shed, run, because otherwise, the dragon would come out and get you.

 

Finally, one bandit decided to make Michele’s life easier. “He’s bleeding!” the guy yelled, a shaking hand pointing at Michele. Chaos ensued amongst the bandits, and then the roar come. A blood chilling roar Michele knew belonged to Emil- a way to make his presence known and foremost, scare off people. Nobody had to know it was actually just a warning mechanism and nothing more.

 

“Time to go!” Seung-gil shouted, immediately noticing that the bandits were retreating. “Before the dragon catches up with us!”

 

The merchant and his bodyguard needed little convincing, and soon, the two horses were pulling the cart along once again. Satisfied with his handiwork and quick thinking, Michele remained lingering behind the waggon, sucking on his injured thumb. It looked stupid, but hopefully, Emil would notice that the smell of blood was temporary- which meant that the injured one had moved on and _hopefully_ , Emil wasn’t crazy enough to follow the scent in a fruitless attempt to save Michele’s ass.

 

~*~

 

Somehow they, which included himself, Seung-gil, the merchant and his bodyguard, had managed arrive at the safety of the Port City unharmed, aside from a few bruises. This meant that Michele was off the hook for two, full weeks. Seung-gil would be staying at the local guild for knights, who had an alliance with the one back in the capital city. Michele, on the other hand, had a different idea. So, he had excused himself, saying something about seeing distant family in the neighbour village, and left.

 

This time, he was smart enough to avoid the road that winded through the forest, forgoing the small paths that ran through the forest. His argument for that had been that there would be fewer bandits, because nobody in their right mind would travel through the _dragon’s_ territory. This was also the second reason he travelled right through the forest. It was Emil’s territory, which meant only the crazy or brave, there was a thin line between those two, would dare to roam those forest grounds. And Michele, though he probably also would be considered crazy for doing such a thing so there were still only two categories. Crazy or brave.

 

There was, however, one thing Michele hadn’t taken into account. He had no idea how to find Emil’s cave. He never had been in this part of the forest, the trees stood closely together and were _tall_ \- and honestly, Michele wasn’t crazy enough to climb right up a tree to see if he could spot a cave. A few branches high wasn’t an issue, but scaling the whole tree was suicide. The last thing he wanted was to fall and _die_.

 

So, on the second day, Michele just wandered. Wandered through the woods, trying to figure out where Emil’s cave was. He knew that he must keep to the mountain range, as you had a good view of it from Emil’s cave. But that was all the lead he had. But, thankfully it wasn’t all bad. There were no bandits around whatsoever, which meant that he was at least heading in the right direction.

 

A few clearings later and Michele _knew_ he had been heading in the right direction. It wasn’t every day you stumbled upon a giant lizard, especially not on a giant lizard who basically pounched _happily_ on Michele the moment he had entered the clearing. Emil was still an oversized lizard-dog by the looks of it.

 

His greeting was basically him laughing, which was an appropriate greeting. As he was no longer running around with his side injury, Emil had wasted no time nuzzling his stomach-chest area. Yeah, this definitely was the dragon’s way of showing affection, it probably was the same as a hug, probably. And it tickled, _a lot_.

 

For a brief moment, Michele glared at the dragon, hoping that it would make Emil stop torturing him. However, which wasn’t even surprising, Emil just kept on going and eventually, Michele _broke_.

 

Gasping for air, Michele let out a series of giggles he would deny the rest of his life. Then, of course, the giggling, snorting and laughing kept on going and going, encouraging Emil to keep on doing whatever he was doing. Eventually, Michele was crying, his face hurt from laughing and his side was stinging painfully, probably complaining he was out of breath.

 

“Seriously Emil,” Michele managed to force out of his throat. “Stop tickling me- please,” the please was way too hysterical for his liking. 

 

Thankfully, Emil pulled away, his nose only gently pressed again Michele’s chest, blue eyes staring directly into his own. “It’s good to see you again,” Michele admitted, gently running his hand along Emil’s snout. “Did you miss me?”

 

Emil let out a whining noise, nudging Michele’s chest slightly. This wasn’t exactly how he planned on meeting Emil again- on the other hand, being pressed against the ground by a 10-foot-tall dragon wasn’t even the most compromising position Michele had found himself in. That had been sharing a sleeping bag with a cuddly JJ during the winter months of training. Those were the times.

 

“I guess that’s a yes,” Michele decided. Emil probably had never expected Michele to return to the forest and visit him- but Michele was a man of his word and knight with honour. In addition to that, Michele was stubborn and not easily scared off by the idea of returning to the forest- even if it could cost him his life.

 

That was the moment Emil finally let Michele go, giving the knight some room to move around and _breathe._ “Finally,” Michele mumbled, pushing himself into a sitting position. He probably was slightly bruised- but nothing that would leave him very harmed. Even if the bruises would stick with him till he returned to Port City, he simply could say he had tripped or something.

 

“Anyway, what’re you doing out here?” Michele questioned- realising that indeed _he_ bumped into Emil and not the other way around. There was cave in sight, and the mountain range should be closer by. Also, with how the wind was acting, Emil wouldn’t be able to pick up his scent anytime soon.

 

The dragon gestured to one of the trees. The bark was slightly marred, dented and scratched in a few places. But it wasn’t aggressively done- it was more likely that Emil had rested his front paws against the bark, trying to reach the branches. It was an apple-tree. Branches hung low, struggling with the weight of all the apples, there was no blossom to be found.

 

Of course, Emil was fetching food. The dragon always went out hunting during the morning, gathering enough food for lunch, dinner and breakfast and, judging by the position of the sun, it wasn’t afternoon yet.

 

“You need help with that?” Michele offered, checking out the tree. It should be an easy climb, and certainly, for him it should be much easier to get the fruits. After all, he had thumbs which came in very _handy_.

 

Emil looked at him with a sceptical look, which wasn’t exactly surprising. The dragon remained a worrywart, looking after Michele as if he was a small boy doing reckless things. “I _know_ how to climb trees,” Michele assured. “And it would be way easier than you trying to… claw them out of the tree?”

 

“So,” Michele added, making both of their lives easier with asking a simple yes or no question. “Would you let me help you?”

 

Eventually, Emil nodded.

 

~*~

 

“I’m impressed.”

 

Honestly, Michele had never expected that Seung-gil would utter those words to _anyone_ , not to mention him. Yet, the knight had, and it sounded _genuine_.

 

They had returned from the escort mission a day ago without any major issues. The road back to the capital, they solely had to fend off some of the wildlife roaming around, but that had been it. Thankfully, the bandits had been smart enough to leave them alone, probably afraid of Michele in particular as he _knew_ how to defend himself. 

 

“Can I know why?” Michele asked, leaning against the wall, waiting for the treasurer of the guild to call them in and hand them the money they earned. He finally could pay off the rent for last month _and_ this month.

 

“You aren’t as stupid as most here,” Seung-gil said bluntly, probably earning him a few glares from other knights. “How did you figure out the trick with the blood?”

 

An ice-cold wave washed over him. How had Seung-gil noticed? It wasn’t like he had been running around, screaming that he was bleeding to _death_ , neither had the bandits screamed bloody murder. They just had returned, fearful and slightly shaken, but they reminded tight-lipped. “Why would you want to know? To steal my job?”

 

Inevitably, the story would spread that for the first time in like, five years, a merchant safely travelled through the forest and back, saving weeks upon weeks of travelling. And surely, his name would be mentioned, which meant Michele would get plenty of job offers. It felt a bit wrong to use his relationship with Emil like that, but he _needed_ the money. Though, he _had_ explained everything to Emil, apologizing over and over again for making the dragon worry. In the end, Emil hadn’t really minded, agreeing to help out. Hopefully, he finally could give Sara the opportunity to go to school, something his parents hadn’t enough money for.

 

“I’m not interested in money, I’m just,” Seung-gil’s lips twitched in a half-smile. “Curious.”

 

He didn’t distrust Seung-gil. Michele didn’t exactly like him, but that was more personality focused than the man’s skills, drive and honour as a knight. Yet, despite knowing that Seung-gil was far from the scum that crawled around in the other guilds, he wasn’t too fond of giving Seung-gil information, especially so in the open.

 

“I just recalled what happened last time I was in the forest,” Michele answered vaguely. “Nothing happened till blood was shed. That was the moment the bandits started to panic, the dragon came and it seemed logical to do the same this time, only to outrun the dragon in the end.”

 

Seung-gil’s remained passive, but Michele knew that this wasn’t the end of their conversation. “And by accident, you picked up that the wind was right, that we _passed_ the dragon’s territory _and_ that by hiding of the scent the dragon would lose the trail,” the knight looked around, noticing a few others staring at them curiously. “Let’s get somewhere more private- I want to talk.”

 

~*~

 

“You met the dragon, didn’t you?” there was a slight tremor in Seung-gil’s voice, but it wasn’t the wicked excitement he had heard in other people their voices. The excitement to hear about the monstrous beast and how they, in their dreams mind you, could defeat it.

 

“Of course I did,” Michele answered, rolling his eyes. That was no secret at all, everybody knew that the ‘brave’ knight Michele Crispino faced the Forest Dragon and _survived_. “What, want the details about how he looks?”

 

Michele mentally cursed himself for using _him_. Nobody knew the dragon’s gender, resulting in calling _it_ instead of him or her.

 

“He?” Seung-gil repeated, a puzzled look on his face. “It looks more to a female for me.”

 

That was his way out, thankfully. “Well, for me it seemed more like a male, but I don’t know. It isn’t like I stuck around to see for myself what gender the dragon was.”

 

Seung-gil’s eyes flashed, and Michele figured _this_ was what Seung-gil wanted to talk about. “Did you see its eyes?” the knight asked hurriedly, the level of excitement in his voice surprising. Why the eyes- oh, what if Seung-gil was one of those fools who tried before him and _survived_ to tell the tale.

 

“You tried to, you know, kill him too?” Michele questioned, knowing perfectly well that he could ask what he wanted. If Seung-gil wanted answers, he had to co-operate.

 

The knight shrugged, sitting down on one of the chairs in the small, abandoned, office-space. “To kill it? No. I was curious- I read so many books about dragons that I wanted to see one for myself, yet the dragon didn’t fit the stories- I saw its eyes and, well, I fled, like a coward.” Seung-gil sounded rather bitter.

 

“Because they were human,” Michele answered to no-one particular. Seung-gil wasn’t interested in slaying Emil, heck, he was barely a knight. He always had wondered why Seung-gil had become a knight, as the man always had his nose buried in books. Seung-gil was a _scholar_ , which fitted his character so much better than a knight. Someone who could spend their entire day in the library, reading book after book, longing to see the world, to see if it’s true what’s written in the books. But becoming a scholar was _expensive_ , and surely, Seung-gil’s parents hadn’t been wealthy and rich. “His eyes,” Michele added. “They’re human-like.”

 

At first, Michele thought he had been looking too much into it as Seung-gil was just staring at him stoically. But eventually, his lips twitched into a triumphant grin, a very uncharacteristic grin. “I knew it,” Seung-gil whispered, voice shaking. “They called me stupid, saying that it probably was a side-effect of surviving that but-” he looked up hopefully. “If you saw it too- it must be real.”

 

“I don’t know, I saw him once and fled, just like you, I didn’t see him afterwards since,” Michele answered, not feeling very generous to spill all the beans to Seung-gil. JJ was already a tricky one- but JJ was a palace guard and never went on missions. Plus, he considered the loud male as his friend. Seung-gil wasn’t particularly his friend, and he _was_ a knight, a knight interested in Emil.

 

“Honestly, I don’t believe you don’t know more,” Seung-gil said coldly. “But each their choice- but I would recommend this,” the knight handed him a note with a name and address written on it. “She doesn’t talk to me, figures,” Seung-gil rolled his eyes. “But she’s friends with your sister so you might get a shot.”

 

Seung-gil left the small office space, leaving Michele on his own. Checking the note, Michele recognised the name immediately. Well, it seemed that Seung-gil had the same idea as he had.

 

Mila Babicheva, a friend of Sara and a sorceress in training. The same woman who had cursed him into talking in couples for a bit.

 

~*~

 

By now, Spring was replaced by Summer- not that Michele exactly kept track on things. Live moved faster than it had done before, and honestly, he still wasn’t sure whenever he was happy with that or not.

 

He tried to visit Emil occasionally. Usually, it was between missions as most merchants would at least spend an entire week on the market in the Port City. The dragon always seemed to be happy with his visits- even if it was just him hanging around in the cave, updating the dragon with what was going on his life.

 

For example, Sara managed to get a promotion and was allowed to work in the shop itself instead of in the back- all thanks honestly to the new and well-tailored dresses Isabella had gifted her _and_ the fact she finally went to school to learn how to read and write. Michele finally had managed to scrape enough money together to make that happen. On other news was that Guang Hong almost was officially a healer, _almost_ , maybe a few more weeks before the healers decided that okay- maybe he was a bit young _and_ a guy, but he is one of the best they had around. And foremost, one day Michele barely could hold back his excitement.

 

“I’m going to be an uncle,” Michele announced excitedly. It was pretty much the first thing he told Emil after he had greeted the dragon. The dragon blinked in surprised, ears flicking in confusion.

 

“Well,” Michele drew out. “Not exactly uncle- we aren’t blood-related- but one of my friends’ wife is expecting a baby late winter and my sister and I are basically already roped into babysitting duties,” he explained, unable to contain his glee about the news.

 

The news had come out of nowhere. Michele had been busy- either holed up in the library reading every book he could find about dragons and magic, or being away on missions, earning enough money to pay for their apartment, food _and_ Sara’s education. Then, one day JJ just barged in, grinning like crazy and announcing that he was going to become a _dad_.

 

Emil seemed happy with the news, though Michele noticed the slight sadness in his eyes. It must be hard, Michele living his life out there in the human world while Emil was stuck here in this cave. The only company he had were small animals and occasionally Michele, who babbled happily about home.

 

“Also,” Michele continued loudly finally deciding to tell Emil what he was working on. “When I’m not working, I spend most of my time in the library- and believe me, reading isn’t really my thing but-”

 

Michele softened his gaze, offering Emil a genuinely caring smile. “I became wiser about curses and all that kind of stuff,” Emil visibly flinched, eyes growing comically big. “And, well, often the caster is smart enough to make sure the victim can’t talk about the curse- so if you’re cursed, well,” Emil didn’t nod or shook his head- but honestly Michele hadn’t expected that. He just said it himself- the dragon probably couldn’t talk about the curse- if there even was a curse to begin with.

 

“But hey- I’ll be here for a few more days anyway, so this topic can wait,” Michele grinned. “So, if you don’t mind too much, tell me about your family- I have been rambling about mine, whenever blood-related or not,  and you know, maybe there are things you want to share?”

 

Emil just stared at him. Michele wasn’t sure in what context- there was no puzzlement, anger or sadness in the dragon’s eyes- the look was almost… glassy?

 

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Michele suggested, moving around a bit to get comfortable.

 

With a huff, Emil lowered himself on his belly, head nearly knocking Michele as it dropped in his lap. “I swear,” Michele muttered, scratching Emil behind the ears. “You really act like a dog.”

 

Emil huffed, blowing warm air against Michele’s shirt. By now, he knew that it wouldn’t do much harm, Emil’s body temperature apparently was just warmer than any ordinary humans’ body temperature. Admittedly, Emil was just an oversized lizard- and like most reptiles, Emil liked to lay in the hot sun, warming himself up.

 

“You can be so dramatic, you know,” Michele teased, pressing a kiss on what probably was Emil’s forehead. It was a habit that stuck with him from when he and Sara were younger. For whatever reason Sara always found it soothing when Michele kissed her forehead, probably a habit he stole from his mum.

 

A distressed noise rumbled low in Emil’s belly, causing Michele to laugh loudly. “It’s just a forehead kiss,” Michele pointed out. “You act like I just kissed you on the lips or something.”

 

It took a few seconds for the realisation to settle in. Yes, Michele had back in the days also kissed their dog on its head, and sometimes the horse he borrowed. But switching from domestic animals to an oversized lizard was quite the change. “And don’t even think about it,” Michele warned, voice slightly hysterical. His face was entirely flustered, the tips of his ears burning as if they were set on fire. “I want to save my first kiss.”

 

He just had admitted that out loud. Great, he was going to tell a dragon about his miserable love life. Michele almost dared to say that even _Seung-gil_ must have kissed someone, the man was well-loved by the ladies for whatever reasons.

 

Emil cocked his head slightly, curious eyes looking up at Michele. “No- I’m not going to tell you about my love life,” Michele grunted, glaring down at Emil. “And _yes_ , it’s a pathetic love life, but it isn’t like you’re fairing much better, don’t you have a girlfriend dragon or something?”

 

Michele raised an eyebrow in confusion, caused by Emil’s… particularly behaviour. Then, it clicked. _Oh_ , that explained things- especially if Emil _was_ human after all.

 

“Wait, you like princes instead of princesses?” he asked slowly, a small smile on his face. The way he was asking it was childish, but it made it all… less awkward. “Well- if that’s the case, that makes two. I honestly like princes better than princesses- though I’m not much of a people person to begin it, but that’s what you call details.”

 

To his surprise, Emil hummed softly, snout gently pressed against Michele’s stomach. “Princes it is,” the knight whispered, returning his hand to Emil’s head to scratch his ears.

 

~*~

 

The idea was honestly ridiculous- on the other hand, Michele talked to dragons. Things couldn’t get more crazy from that. Packed way too heavy- his back was going to be sore soon- Michele wavered through the trees he had gotten familiar with. It was ridiculously easy to find Emil’s cave- maybe it was because Michele had visited it many times, or maybe he was just determined not to get lost and being ambushed by bandits, _again_.

 

Stepping into the clearing Emil’s cave was mouthing out to, Michele plopped down on the ground, sliding the straps of the bag of his shoulders. It was well into the afternoon- which meant Emil probably was sleeping. While knowing that Emil wouldn’t harm him, Michele knew from a previous experience just walking right into the cave was suicide. Emil had almost cat-like reflexes, Michele had barely made it inside before he was swiped right of his feet and was slammed into the cave wall- the sole thought made his healed skin ache in pain. So, yeah, he wasn’t stupid enough to enter the cage unannounced again.

 

Picking up a rock, Michele aimed at the wall of the cave and threw it. There was no noise- at least _Michele_ didn’t hear anything. Knowing Emil well enough, the dragon certainly would wake up from the noise. Two more rocks followed, colliding against the stone wall before falling uselessly on the forest ground.

 

It was their code- three times the sound of a rock thrown against the cave, nothing more, nothing less. If it was less, Michele was in trouble, an injury, though Emil could smell that from miles. If it was more- Michele _definitely_ was in danger, probably company. Because, face it, it didn’t go unnoticed that Michele spends a _lot_ of his time in the forest and _certainly_ , people had tried to follow him. With the emphasis on _tried_ , as no-one had yet come even close to keeping up with him. This either had to do with that the others feared the forest or the bandits left Michele alone but not the rest of the foolish people who entered the forest.

 

Birds chirped loudly- but it wasn’t a warning or distress signal. By now, Michele had figured out most of the wildlife in the forest wasn’t afraid of Emil, as the dragon was peaceful towards them. So, the noises probably meant they picked up movements from the cave- Emil probably had woken up.

 

Hauling his bag back onto his shoulders- Michele truthfully regretted over packing, Michele walked to the entrance, not trying to muffle his steps. It would make Emil all the warier if Michele tried to sneak up on him.

 

“Hey, I’m back,” Michele announced, stepping into the shadow of the cave.

 

Emil hummed sleepily, head resting on his front legs. The dragon probably had picked up Michele’s scent and was too lazy to move. For whatever reason, Emil had been restless of late. Quite literally restless- the dragon didn’t sleep well, nightmares, which resulted in the dragon either sleeping in ridiculously long or missing dinner for napping too long. It was that Michele occasionally visited and fearlessly woke the dragon up, otherwise the dragon could have definitely shifted dinner to late night snack.

 

“Still having nightmares?” Michele questioned, dropping his bag again as he approached the dragon.

 

Emil gave a curt nod and yawned. Michele was forever glad that Emil wasn’t interested in eating him- because clearly, the dragon was an omnivore. The sharp teeth in the front were nothing to sneeze at. “They have been going on for a while, haven’t they?” Michele mumbled, running his hand over Emil’s scale. 

 

It wasn’t hard to accurately pinpoint the moment the nightmares had started- it was pretty much right after Michele had declared he officially would look for a way to break Emil’s curse- which, in all honestly, made his theory even stronger. There was not such a thing as coincidence when it comes to magic, at least that was what he had read.

 

Another nod followed soberly. It was terrible not seeing Emil being his usual, energetic self, but he could understand. While he clearly wasn’t the happiest or brightest personality-wise, Michele was ten times worse if he hadn’t slept well in days. The lack of a proper night of rest must take its toll on the dragon.

 

Picking up few fruits from the food pile, Michele settled down against Emil’s side, just behind his front paw. “While I don’t know how to make the nightmares stop,” Michele admitted, munching on an odd but perfectly safe looking fruit. “I might have a way to make it easier to sleep,” he mentally added ‘I hope’.

 

“You know, when Sara was a kid, she feared for monsters under her bed, a bit childish, I know,” Michele chuckled at the fond memory. “But our mum always told her stories, stories of brave heroes, smart princesses and funny sidekicks. My mother’s voice always lulled her sleep, ushering away the scary thoughts. I probably I’m not such a great story-teller as my mum, but…”

 

Michele gestured to the bag he had dropped earlier. “I brought books with me from the library, and I could read some for you if you want to? They’re all kids stories- so they will be a bit childish, but,” a genuine smile crawled up on his lips. “They’re the best.”

 

Emil hummed appreciatively, his tail sweeping around in excitement. “Though, be warned- Sara always tells me I’m boring, so don’t fall asleep on me- it wasn’t easy to get my hands on those books,” well, it wouldn’t be bad if Emil fell asleep so he might should restate that line.

 

First, Emil snorted. Michele wasn’t sure if Emil agreed with Sara, or he _disagreed_ with Sara. Michele wasn’t the greatest when it came to nonverbal communication, which was kind of unfortunate as, well, Emil _couldn_ _’t_ talk. A few moments later, something that sounded like a disapproving growl followed.

 

“No, I didn’t steal them,” Michele returned, nudging his elbow against Emil’s sturdy scales. “I borrowed them… without permission, and now I own a favour to Seung-gil,” which he wasn’t exactly happy about- but the knight actually _helped_ him sneaking out the books without even questioning it. “So, be grateful, you know that I don’t like Seung-gil a lot.”

 

Emil made an appreciative noise, not that Michele would have expected any less from him. For whatever reason, Michele pretty much couldn’t do anything wrong in the dragon’s eyes. On the other hand, it wasn’t like Emil got a lot of company considering that Michele was the only one who visited. Sara was busy with her job- so was Michele but his work hours were a bit flexible- and he hadn’t dared to bring anyone with him yet to meet Emil.

 

“Anyway,” Michele mumbled, finishing up the fruit and tossing the core to Emil’s snout. “You’re now stuck with me reading you bedtime stories.”

 

Emil didn’t sound all that sad.

 

~*~

 

“Yes, I brought more books with me,” Michele announced as he entered the cave. With a relieved sigh, he dropped his bag on the ground. “And something else you might appreciate.”

 

Unpacking the bag, Michele made sure that the ‘borrowed’ books didn’t get dirty while he retrieved his present. It wasn’t much of a present- but as they finally had some financial stability, mainly thanks to Michele’s new reputation as ‘the Forest Guide, Michele decided to bring along some ‘thank you’ present.

 

Finally stumbling upon his present, Michele hauled the large fruit out of the bag. He was surprised he even managed to bring it with him- he still had back pains from when he dragged some books along the last time, and the time before that, _and_ the time before that.

 

“I hope you like watermelon,” Michele mumbled, holding the large fruit in his arms. “This was the biggest one I could afford,” _and find._

 

Staggering over where Emil was laying, Michele sat down in front of the dragon, watermelon resting on his tights. Okay, he should stop hauling along heavy things before he has to go with an early retirement because of an accidental back injury. Guang Hong already had scolded him a couple of times, especially when the ex-healer-in-training in question had to fix up his back. It had been awkward for both of them as, well, Guang Hong wasn’t his type and he _definitely_ wasn’t Guang Hong’s type.

 

Pushing the fruit to Emil, Michele didn’t miss out the shine in Emil’s eyes. “It’s all yours,” he added, gesturing to the watermelon. “I murdered my back for it- please enjoy.”

 

Emil shot him a brief, concerned look before digging in. Or, well, more like taking out a large chunk of the fruit in one go. It was slightly unsettling, until you realised that the dragon was at least 10-foot-tall, 30-foot-long and clearly better fit for eating a lot in once than a human was.

 

“Okay- you clearly like watermelons,” Michele pointed out, seeing how fast the fruit had been gobbled down. It was both disgusting and endearing at the same time. “So, I also managed to find your favourite book- it took Seung-gil some time but,” Michele reached out for the stack of the books, grabbing the one with the familiar cover.

 

“The Frog Prince,” Michele chuckled, placing the book on his lap. “Odd choice- my favourite is The Golden Lion,” a loving smile played on his lips. “It shows that by being kind towards others you have a higher chance to succeed than doing everything on your own.”

 

“Sara’s favourite is The Dove,” Michele added, grinning. “Anyway, we could start early, or do I have to wait for sundown?”

 

Emil made a shrugging motion. “Okay, early?” Michele questioned.

 

The dragon nodded, and Michele opened the book, getting comfortable on the floor. “One fine evening a young princess...”

 

~*~

 

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Michele asked halfway trough dinner, munching on an apple.

 

Emil stopped with eating, blinking at him with surprise. The dragon nodded, patiently waiting for Michele to ask his question.

 

“Would you mind if I bring someone along?” the brunet asked, nervously toying with his apple. “She’s a sorceress- she could help, maybe. I’m not sure- I still have to ask her but,” Michele shot Emil a sad smile. “I want to help you so badly- I never met someone so undeserving of a cruel fate like this.”

 

Well, apparently dragons could cry. Nice to know- though it wasn’t that odd considering Emil was already half-human anyway, at least behaviour-wise he acted very… human. Forgetting all about dinner, Emil buried his head behind his front legs, hiding his face from view.

 

“Okay- no time for a weeping party,” Michele said hastily, feeling his own eyes growing damp. “But what do you say? Can I bring her if I trust her enough?”

 

Without much of thought, Emil nodded curtly, ears flickering in contained excitement.

 

~*~

 

Entering the small shop, Michele was engulfed by the scent of scented candles and strong-smelling spices. There was a reason he didn’t like to visit Mila. The redhead was a pleasant person to be around, she was a bit loud and to-the-point, but she got along well with Sara, which was quite a fresh breath of air compared to all the guy friends Sara had. But her shop was suffocating, and it reeked of magic- as far as magic had a scent.

 

“Mila!” Michele shouted, coughing loudly as he inhaled some of the lingering smoke.

 

The redhead appeared out the back, hair tied up in a low bun, a long, sea-blue dress grazing the floor. While Michele wasn’t attracted to women either romantically or sexually, he _knew_ when a woman was pretty. Mila definitely was pretty, and if it hadn’t been for her odd choice of craftsmanship, she probably would have all kind of men throwing themselves at her feet.

 

“Hey, Mickey,” Mila greeted him cheerfully, a small smile plastered on her face. “How’s Sara doing?”

 

Michele returned Mila’s smile, trying not to swallow to much smoke. “She’s doing fine- school is serving her well. She doesn’t tell me, but she’s happy she finally can do things on her own, like writer letters herself or read them instead of having to ask me.”

 

Mila clearly shared his excitement, happily clapping her hands together. “That’s good news,” she said wholeheartedly. “Though I doubt that’s why you’re visiting me.”

 

Letting his smile fall, Michele propped his elbows on the counter. “I need your help,” he murmured, afraid someone else would hear him. “What do you know about curses?”

 

“Curses?” Mila parroted. “Why curses?” she asked with an almost devilish glint in her eyes. “Are you telling me Mickey you want to curse someone? Hmm,” a thoughtful look crossed her face. “Seung-gil?”

 

Rolling his eyes, Michele shook his head. “Though sometimes I would love to,” he admitted. “I need a curse-breaker, someone who can lift a curse- or at least figure out if someone _is_ cursed.”

 

It seemed that Mila was interested. Her face lit up, eyes blown wide with excitement.

 

“Oh, you got a job for me, Crispino?” she asked gleefully, hopping slightly. “Tell me about it- who do you think is cursed?”

 

Michele wondered if he was going to tell Mila the entire story. It might be useful- on the other hand, minor details probably wouldn’t be a deal breaker. So, he decided to keep it sort. “I think the Forest Dragon is cursed.”

 

Mila groaned, throwing her head back in annoyance. “You’re the second one who thinks that,” the woman hisses. “And don’t tell me that ‘it’s the eyes- they’re human’ is your argument- I already have said no to Seung-gil, and I’m willing to say no to you too.”

 

He wasn’t surprised that Seung-gil had tried- the knight was curious- and Mila was one of the few sorcerers in the capital which was affordable for commoners. “While that is one of my arguments,” Michele started. “It’s also the fact he understands human speech- he can read, he has a name, eats around breakfast, lunch and dinner, his favourite story is _The Frog Prince_. Those are things that make him… human, I think. What dragon actually knows about fairy tales?”

 

For a brief moment, Mila remained silence. Her face was completely blank, no frown, no smile, nothing. “That... sounds almost like you know them,” the redhead said slowly. “The dragon- as if you know them.”

 

Michele threw his hands up in the air, sighing in annoyance. “I _know_ him,” he said loudly. “I spend more dinners with him than I can count on both my hands- I read him bedtimes stories when he started to struggle with nightmares, I _help_ him gather food. I spend more time in his cave then back home by now, so yes, I _know_ him.”

 

“Wait,” Mila started slowly, an unreadable expression on her face. “You’re saying that those three weeks you were gone; you spend most of them _with_ the dragon?”

 

“Yes!” she finally got it. “Emil _saved_ my life, and now I want to save his- if he’s human. He also could be a friendly dragon, but I doubt it.”

 

A suffocating silence fell upon the two, or it was the smoke that lingered in the shop that made Michele feel like suffocating. Michele suspected the latter. Eventually, Mila’s frown relaxed, a tiny smile crossed her lips. “Okay, I’ll do it, you got me convinced, Mickey,” she said. “But- what are you willing to pay for my service?”

 

“Firstborn child?” he suggested jokingly. She probably wanted money and Michele had been saving for it, prepared for the fee.

 

“Firstborn child doesn’t sound bad,” Mila admitted, tapping her chin. “I mean, you probably know that I’m solely interested in women- so there will be no baby, and aside from your temper, there is nothing wrong with your genes.”

 

Michele honestly gaped at the redhead. She was seriously considering his firstborn child- did she even know he was into men like she was into women?

 

“Which firstborn child?” Michele asked slowly, cocking his head innocently. “You know that I have a hopeless love life, right?”

 

The sorceress rolled her eyes. “Mickey- I’m not a fortune teller, I don’t ‘predict’ the future with reading cards, I’m not Aphrodite or Cupid- but even _I_ can see there is love in your heart- more love than the love you’re holding for Sara or the love for your friends.”

 

It was like a punch in the guts. The first question that popped up in his head was _who_ , but he knew the answer. _Emil_. Of course, it had to be Emil- that was the only one who he had gotten closer to in the span of two months. He cared about Emil- he truly did. But if he had to believe Mila, his feelings might be a bit different towards Emil then towards the likes of JJ or Guang Hong. Or maybe he just had fallen grossly in love with Seung-gil, which seemed as likely as Michele marrying a woman.

 

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Michele admitted shakily. He perfectly knew what she was talking about- he cared _too_ much about Emil. Yes, the dragon had saved his life, but he actually didn’t have to go as far as he did to repay his non-existing debt.

 

Mila smiled wryly. “That’s okay,” she said. “But I think money will do. So, when are you planning on taking me to the dragon?”

 

~*~

 

“You know, you said he wasn’t dangerous and such- but he’s still a dragon, but I wasn’t expecting this,” Mila stared at the clearing in awe. Lavender was blossoming everywhere, vines that covered the cave’s had started to grow a dark shade of red. It basked in the sun, shrubberies a bright green with wild berries, trees standing proud and tall.

 

“What, you didn’t expect Emil to live in a cave?” Michele questioned, not even trying to hide the pride in his voice. “He’s still a dragon, you know,” he parroted, grinning as Mila grew flustered.

 

“Yeah- but I would expect to find fairy-folk or such at a place like this,” the redhead snapped, gesturing to the clearing. “Not some monstrous dragon.”

 

Irritated, Michele plopped down, gesturing Mila to follow. “Yeah, well, hate to break it to you, but I met men and women who scared me more than Emil ever did.”

 

The redhead sat down next to him, eyeing him with scepticism. Thankfully, Mila decided not to comment on Michele’s remark, which gave him the opportunity to enjoy the silence.

 

It was already well into the summer, maybe even late summer. The seasons were a bit tricky in the forest- if he hadn’t known better, it was late May, but the calendar said that they well passed the Summer Solace. Slowly by little, the days filled with light grew shorter and shorter. A few minutes a day, maybe, but at some point, someone started to notice the difference.

 

“What’s he like?” Mila murmured, hugging her knees to her chest. “Emil, I mean. You haven’t told me a lot about him personally, like, you seem to care a lot about him and it would make things easier- I want to know which boundaries there are.”

 

This was new. Nobody he knew had really asked Emil, not even Sara. Sometimes the question arose whenever Emil was doing fine, and Michele answered. But never anybody had asked about Emil in a personal sense- like if they tried to get to know the dragon which was a huge part of his life.

 

“Emil is...” what was Emil? “Indescribable, at least in one word,” Michele sighed. “Excitable, like an oversized puppy, caring, willing to put himself in danger to protect others. He has an odd fondness for watermelons it seems, he likes to nap in the afternoon unless I’m visiting for only a short period of time,” there was so much to tell about Emil. “Most of the animals in the forest love him, seek shelter with him during storms and such. He’s a first class hoarder of everything soft and fluffy- you should see his cave-floor. It’s like an oversized blanket-fort. He’s... smart, he knows what he does and how to handle things- he can read and understand human speech, but he also can express himself in body language. Like, he knows what nodding and shaking his head means, he has his own particular ways of hugging and being disapproving- he-”

 

Michele jumped as a hand gently patted his leg. “You don’t have to continue, you know,” Mila offered him a bright smile. “I know plenty, at least for now. You know why I accepted your offer and not Seung-gil’s?”

 

He didn’t know. Michele had guessed that it was because Mila actually knew him and that he knew where to find the dragon. “I don’t know. Because I knew where to find Emil?”

 

“No,” the redhead answered softly. “Because you cared. Seung-gil was curious but didn’t care about the dragon himself. It was all to clench his thirst for knowledge, for adventure. There is nothing wrong with that- but I’m not taking such a risk for that,” Mila’s voice wavered. “You, on the other hand, cared. You care so much about Emil- you showed that already back in the shop and just now, the way you talk about him,” there was a certain level of logging in her voice. “You would go to hell and back for him, no matter what nature your relationship is with Emil, you really care about him, and that was all that mattered to me.”

 

Almost did he ask that this meant she did it for free, but he decided against it. He was surprised that this was the way he had convinced Mila to tag along- it was dangerous after all. The forest had a terrible reputation, and while Michele had gotten the reputation of being able to safely travel through the forest, it didn’t make it any less… well… safe.

 

They sat in peace for a while, waiting for the sun to hit its highest point. Around that time, Emil should return from food-gathering. Sometimes the dragon was a bit earlier, but Michele was convinced Emil hadn’t returned yet. His guess had been right when the forest floor shook slightly, leaves rustled, and birds chirped, though not warningly.

 

“What’s that?” Mila asked nervously, scooting closer to Michele.

 

Chuckling softly, Michele offered the women a reassuring look. “It’s just Emil- I mean; he isn’t really trying to be quiet here so...”

 

There was another small tremor, and Mila basically jumped into his lap, clutching her arms around his neck. “Okay- but I didn’t expect him to be _this_ big. How big is he?” Mila’s voice was shaking with fear- and she called herself fearless.

 

“About ten tall and thirty long,” Michele muttered, mulling over the measurements. “He’s built sleek, so there isn’t a lot of unnecessary mass, but there are a lot of muscles, so that evens it out.”

 

This didn’t seem to soothe Mila in the slightest, which made Michele even more anxious. As a kid, he would’ve killed the having a beautiful woman sitting in his lap, now he rather wanted to push her away and burn this memory.

 

“Stop being so nervous,” Michele muttered, trying to get comfortable with Mila still clinging to his neck. “This isn’t particularly comfortable.”

 

Mila hissed, knee painfully jabbing his side. “Crispino, even if I were into guys you wouldn’t be my type, no offence, there surely are women who like you, but I don’t, romantically.”

 

“Take makes two,” Michele added, finally getting himself in a somewhat comfortable position. “You aren’t my type either even _if_ I liked women- but hey, no offence, right?” he sneered.

 

This seemed to have done the trick. Mila stopped squirming around, instead of looking at him with big eyes. “Wait- _that’s_ why you offered me your first born? Because you’re into guys?”

 

“Yes,” Michele hissed. “Now will you get off me, you’re killing my legs.”

 

The redhead was about to get off him, to his relief, when a tree branch snapped loudly. Mila screamed and threw her arms around his neck, forcing both of them down.

 

“For fuck’s sake, that’s Emil!” he regretted bringing Mila along- he really did.

 

As if cued, the dragon stepped into the clearing, eyes big with wonder. “She’s not my girlfriend,” Michele immediately snapped, noticing Emil’s curious look. “Mila is _supposed_ to help me- but if I knew she would act like _this_.”

 

He wasn’t even angry at her. It was scary- the stories about dragons were scary, and Michele couldn’t convince a person if his life depended on it. So Mila was still expecting a large dragon that could spit fire at will and gobble her down in one go.

 

“Cut me some slack, will you?” the redhead grumbled, rolling of Michele and scrambling into a sitting position, facing Emil.

 

During their small ‘argument’, Emil had fully emerged into the clearing, standing there in his full ten-foot tall glory. Mila clearly was caught off guard, to say the least. The woman stared at Emil, eyes big as platters, jaw slightly dropped. For someone who was interested in magic, this surely must be a magical moment. A friendly yet very real dragon.

 

“He doesn’t have wings,” Mila pointed out, eyebrows drawn together. “That makes him a wyrm, not a dragon.”

 

Unsurprisingly, both Emil and Michele stared at the redhead in confusion. “A what?” Michele questioned, not exactly understanding what Mila was saying. “Also- that’s your first reaction? You see you a dragon, and you’re saying that it isn’t even a dragon?”

 

Mila shrugged, her gaze never leaving Emil. “I’m just pointing out a fact- plus cut me some slack, I was expecting to meet some horrifying creature that would scar me for life, not an oversized lizard with doe-like eyes.”

 

Deciding that getting to business seemed to be the best option, Michele got up, brushed off the dirt on his clothes and walked over to Emil, barely even bothering to be cautious. “Sorry that it took so long,” Michele murmured, petting the dragon’s front leg. “There was all kind of legal stuff to get through before I could drag her along, insurances, contracts, money, all that boring stuff.”

 

Emil didn’t sound all that bothered by it. The dragon grumbled, not in an aggressive manner, and lowered his head to a proper level for Michele to touch it. “Yeah, I know that I should live my own life,” the brunet mumbled, moving over to Emil’s head to scratch behind his ears. “But I want to try, okay? If you’re human again- if you were human before- I won’t have to travel two days to just see you.”

 

Michele was prepared to be knocked over by Emil, so the weird chest-bump only made him stumble slightly, thankfully not knocking him over. “I swear; you’re going to be the death of me.”

 

~*~

 

Michele knew he was a little bit… protective? Okay- not a little bit, but he cared about Emil, and he wasn’t exactly fond of the way Mila was eyeing his friend. The redhead, after recovering from the first meeting, had formatively introduced herself and then, without much hassle, started to do her sorceresses stuff. Michele had no idea what she was doing, and honestly, he wasn’t going to bother with it. He and magic didn’t exactly go hand-in-hand. Also, he _paid_ her to do this.

 

“Well, you should give yourself a pat on the back,” Mila announced after a few minutes. “Definitely cursed- he reeks of magic.”

 

Emil let out a whining noise, nostrils flaring up in embarrassment.

 

“You don’t reek, Emil,” Michele pointed out. “There is just a lot of… magic surrounding you?” he threw Mila a puzzled expression. He had no idea what he was doing.

 

  
“What he said,” Mila confirmed. “Which makes things a lot easier,” the redhead added excitedly. “Now all I have to do is to figure out who cast it, what the curse is and how to break it.”

 

That sounded honestly like a lot of work, but Michele wasn’t going to intervene. He wanted the best for Emil, even if that meant letting some else do the important stuff, making him pretty useless.

 

For a while Mila kept on circling Emil, muttering what Michele assumed were spells under her breath. She didn’t look happy at all- there was a continue pinch between her eyebrows, lips tightly pressed together. The pacing around probably was unnecessary too, but probably done out of habit or nerves- probably the latter.

 

“I’m not exactly happy with what I figured out, which is already very little,” Mila said after a while, plopping down on the soft floor. “For starters- the caster is dead or dying. No surprise really. Someone who can cast curses like these could be considered god-tier evil _and_ talented.”

 

Well, it was a good thing the caster was dead or dying so they couldn’t curse anyone else. But on the other hand, Michele maybe could’ve searched for them and ask questions, like how the curse could be broken. “How do you know anyway that the caster is dying?”

 

Mila wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Curses usually are a lot more stable, they only get unstable when the caster is weakened. It isn’t harmful, at all, but it can cause a few issues, like nightmares.”

 

“Nightmares?” Michele parroted- realising that it might have been a coincidence all along. Maybe Emil’s nightmares didn’t start because Michele had it figures it out, maybe the nightmares had begun because the caster was weakening. There was no coincidence when it came to magic, something he should know by now.

 

“Nightmares,” Mila confirmed. “I guess that they have started- well, the good news is, like I said before it’s all pretty harmless. Maybe you sleep less than before,” Mila switched over to talk to Emil. “But they won’t do you any physical harm.”

 

_A few issues_. So, there probably was more than just nightmares. “There is more?”

 

“Yes,” Mila answered hesitantly. “With unstable curses, there is a chance there will be after-effects. Like, temporary blindness or memory loss. Usually, they will fade over time, so it is temporary…” the redhead trailed off, looking slightly nervous.

 

By how Mila ended her sentence, Michele knew there was more to come. “You’ve been wrong about something, you know,” Mila pointed out, her gaze never leaving Emil. “It didn’t happen five years ago- when we found out about him for the first time,” Michele’s stomach dropped.

 

“Ten years,” Mila said quietly. “The poor guy hasn’t aged a day for ten years- which is probably also the time he has been cursed. It’s cruel,” Michele swore he heard Mila’s voice quiver. “Never ageing while the rest does- it’s an eternal punishment till the curse is lifted.”

 

Everything made sense, the reason why Emil had been so hesitant to say his age. “Wait- so you’re actually thirty-one?”

 

Mila answered instead of Emil. “If he had aged normally, yes, he would’ve been,” she explained. “But he hasn’t aged at all, so he’s still twenty-one, physically.”

 

Surprisingly, except freaking him out, it actually brought Michele’s mind at ease for a bit. This meant Emil hadn’t been stuck in this cave as a teen like he previously had expected. It didn’t make the punishment any less cruel though.

 

 “Is there…” Michele hesitated- he didn’t want to hear more- he really didn’t. There was no good news coming out of this. “More?” he was assumed to hear himself choke on his words.

 

“I’m afraid not,” Mila answered soberly. “With the caster dying or dead it will be hard to figure out what has led to this curse, after all,” a weak smile was plastered on Mila’s face. “Each curse has a reason, and also a way to be broken. Take the tale of La Belle et la Bête, also known as Beauty and the Beast, as an example,” Michele had never heard of that story, and by the looks of it, Emil had neither.

 

“Well, in the story, the prince is cursed by a fairy who he refused to give shelter. He was turned into a monster and only would return back to normal if someone fell in love with him, despite his appearance,” Mila let out a soft sigh. “It’s about that what’s on the inside matters- but that’s not the point. What I’m trying to say is that there is always a motive to curse someone- even if the person isn’t even directly involved, and there is always a way to lift the curse.”

 

It made a little more sense, though Michele still wondered who Emil had managed to tick off. The dragon was an absolute sweetheart and honestly, one of the last people he would ever expect to tick off a dark sorcerer. That seemed more like a job for him, or Seung-gil, or JJ. All three had their ways with getting on people their nerves, whenever it was intentional or not.

 

“So, you won’t be able to do anything at all?”

 

The redhead shook her head. “Well, not as of now- but you’ve forgotten we’ve a grand library back at home,” she offered Emil a courageous smile. “I’ll look into things- missing person files from ten years ago, figure out _who_ the caster was and what kind of beef they had with you- or indirectly with you. But as of now,” biting her lip, Mila shook her head. “I can’t help you.”

 

Emil made a huffing noise, leaving Mila puzzled. It was a bit weird, the fact that Michele had little to no issue figuring out what Emil was trying to say. “He says it’s okay,” Michele translated. “Take your time, he probably adds mentally,” he added. Emil’s eyes twinkled with life, and the dragon nodded.

 

“You never cease to amaze me, Michele,” the redhead said nonchalantly. “First surviving the forest and now playing translator for a dragon. If you also manage to break the curse, I’m considering offering you _my_ first born.”

 

Snorting, Michele shook his head in disbelief. “You are into women, there will be no firstborn,” he pointed out. “Or unless you’ve changed your mind?” he teased.

 

“In all honestly, I rather date your sister than you,” Mila answered, voice thick with annoyance.

 

_Sure_ , Mila dating his sister. “Of course- you know that this also means we will become related, right?”

 

Mila not so gently punched his arm. “You can’t choose your family _or_ family in law,” she grinned slyly. “You can, however, choose who you want to _marry_ ,” her eyes flickered over to a blissfully unaware Emil. As expected, Michele’s face caught fire. He did _not_ have any romantic feeling towards Emil- not to mention that Emil was a dragon.

 

“I hate you,” he hissed, glaring at her.

 

Laughing, Mila flipped him the bird. “Feelings are mutual Crispino.”

 

~*~

 

The summer _finally_ had ended. The sun was no longer hot and scalding, and the temperature had significantly dropped, at least enough to make it barely compared to the heat wave that had been plaguing them for a few weeks. The heat-wave had been unexpected, as it had been well into August when it had hit them. Even now, at the beginning of what was supposed to be an autumn month, it was still warm.

 

“You’re going to visit Emil again?” Sara questioned, not even looking up from her homework.

 

It was pretty obvious. The moment the temperature had dropped, Michele had packed his bag and readied himself to visit Emil. During the heat he hadn’t dared to travel trough the forest- the chance that he came down with a heat stroke was too great. At least, that was what Guang Hong had told him.

 

“Yeah,” Michele answered quietly. He felt a bit bad about it, he honestly did, but he also missed Emil. It had been more than a month since Mila had tagged along and made her promise, but there was little to no result in her research. The documents she needed were a hassle to get. She had to go trough a tonne of legal documents, visits and lying trough her teeth why she needed them. It was a slow and pretty fruitless process.

 

“Well, I wish I could keep you here but,” Sara looked up, a sympathetic smile on her face. “I also know how much Emil means to you. Tell him I said hi.”

 

Shooting his sister a grateful smile, Michele nodded and left the apartment. The sun barely had started to rise, but Michele didn’t mind. It made it easier to sneak out and leave without a trace. Also, fewer people probably wanted to follow him this early in the morning.

 

~*~

 

The moment the smell of decay hit him, Michele felt the world slow down. He was close to Emil’s cave, maybe a few minute walk away. Maybe it was nothing, maybe a dead bird or something. After all, with the warm weather animals were frailer _and_ things would start to rot faster. But those thoughts didn’t ease his mind. No, they made him walk faster, reaching his destination as soon as possible.

 

What if something happened to Emil? The bandits probably wouldn’t dare, but there was more in this forest than them. There were bears and wolves- the latter in particular was very territorial. But Michele remembered from the academy that they lived close to the mountains, as they weren’t exactly fond of humans, at all. Or maybe something entirely different was roaming the forest, something, unlike the common fauna that roamed the woods.

 

Entering the clearing brought him a small relief. There was a body- death apparently. There was no way that it was still alive, especially considering the black birds surrounding it. But it was a wolf, no doubt. And by the looks of it- it was recent, maybe a few days old.

 

Pressing a handkerchief against his nose, Michele walked around the body in a wide circle- the smell wasn’t pleasant, but as of now he hadn’t the stomach to move it. Also, he still had to check on Emil. If there laid a dead wolf in front Emil’s cave, there might have been an attack. Emil had mentioned that the wolves made him nervous.

 

Picking up a rock, Michele walked over to the cave and knocked on it three times, hoping that this would warn Emil. After all, there was quite a chance that Michele’s scent was blocked out by the smell of... death? Well, he knew that he would never become a coroner - the smell was nauseating.

 

“Emil,” Michele whispered as he slipped inside the cave. Thankfully, it didn’t smell like decay, but that didn’t make things much better. Usually, considering the time of the day, Emil had his afternoon nap, food for the rest of the day already gathered. There was no food, at all.

 

Eventually, his eyes fell upon Emil. Scrap that the smell of decay was nauseating- the sight of Emil made him actually want to hurl.

 

The dragon was curled up in the corner of the cave. The green scales were duller than before, dried blood standing stark against the colour. Several claw-marks were littering Emil’s body, especially surrounding his belly and back. Wolves- probably. This wasn’t good _at all_.

 

“Emil!” Michele repeated, voice a few octaves higher than normal. This time he basically runs towards the dragon, kneeling down at his head. “What happened?”

 

The question was pretty useless, as Michele already knew what happened- or at least had a good guess what happened. But right now, he wanted nothing more than Emil replying to him, showing him a sign of life.

 

Slowly, the dragon stirred, eyes opening slowly. He was alive! “You shouldn’t move too much,” Michele pointed out as Emil started to move. “For now it seems you aren’t bleeding- we can’t afford you opening your injuries again.”

 

Emil let out a whining noise. It probably hurt a lot- and the dragon probably hadn’t eaten anything since the attack, which might have been a few days. “Don’t worry, I’m here,” he comforted the dragon, gently running his hand along Emil’s snout. “I’m not sure what I can do but-” there was no but. He couldn’t do anything; he wasn’t a healer like Guang Hong. He wished he was, but he definitely wasn’t.

 

“When did this happen?” Michele questioned. “One day ago?” also, he held up one finger. The shake of his head was barely there- but it was a no.

 

“Two?” another no- this wasn’t good. If it wasn’t three days, Michele might actually start to panic. “Three?”

 

Three days- Emil had been laying here injured for three days- well, today was probably day three. That was long, and considering that Emil probably couldn’t clean his wounds, a chance of an infection was large. If the dragon didn’t die of blood loss, it might be because of an infection. After all, usually wild animals didn’t survive an injury like this.

 

“Okay, that isn’t good,” Michele murmured, clenching his hands into fists to make them stop shaking. “Here’s the deal- I’ll clean you up as best as I can- at least stall any possible infection,” he swallowed nervously. “Then, I’ll find you some food, and after that, I’ll find help.”

 

Emil started at him with large, question-filled eyes. “I know a healer,” Michele answered. “You might not be human, but treating an injury of a human is probably the same as treating an injury of an animal,” he had honestly no idea, but he couldn’t let Emil know that. It probably would do more harm than good.

 

Protesting noises was all what Michele got from Emil, but that didn’t exactly stop him. He was going to save his friend- or at least try to.

 

~*~

 

When he threw open the door of the make-shift hospital, the heat-stroke had forced the healers to expend the space they had, many eyes glared at him, annoyed that he disturbed their workflow. Though the glares didn’t last long, gazes softened as most of them recognized him as the son of one of their ex co-workers. His mum, after all, had been a healer.

 

Striding into the large hall, Michele sought out Guang Hong. First Michele had tried the healer’s home, but his... roommate? Fiancé? Boyfriend? Michele wasn’t sure what kind of relationship the two of them had, it was complicated to say the least. Nevertheless, the carpenter had said Guang Hong was at work, so Michele had headed straight down to the make-shift hospital.

 

“Mickey, what are you doing here?” Guang Hong questioned. The smaller brunet was dressed in scrubs, hair tousled and bags under his eyes. The heatstroke had taken the toll on many people- the healers had been busy the last few days trying to save as many people as they could.

 

“I need your help,” Michele answered in a hurry. “Can I talk to you- alone?”

 

Guang Hong didn’t react surprised, not showing any emotion except pure professionalism. “Sure- is your scar acting up? I know the heat can cause it to itch.”

 

Nodding, Michele headed out of the large hall, Guang Hong tailing behind him.

 

“It isn’t your scar, is it?” Guang Hong questioned as soon as he had closed the door behind him. “What’s wrong, you look like you just saw a ghost.”

 

Licking his lips nervously, Michele tried to control his voice. “Emil is injured,” he answered slowly. “Wolves- I can’t stich him up- I don’t know how and my hands will shake- needles remember?” he answered quietly. “He’ll die if nothing happens- the injuries are probably already infected.”

 

Guang Hong stared up at him, eyes lacking any emotions. It was if the brunet was trying to read him, which might be the case. Eventually, the healer broke eye-contact and nodded soberly.

 

“I’ll come with you,” Guang Hong agreed. “But, under one circumstance,” the healer held up one finger. “You aren’t going alone- I want to take someone with me as an assistant and bodyguard.”

 

Michele had honestly no idea who could fulfill both roles. Guang Hong was the only one in their group of friends that had knowledge of medical stuff- as far as Michele was aware. The bodyguard wasn’t as difficult, it helped that both Michele and JJ were trained knights, and as far as he knew, Leo was perfectly capable of hitting someone in the face. Whenever it was with a fist or a wooden plank- Leo was a powerhouse with a heart made of soft clouds and rainbows.

 

“Fine- if you get them to agree- when are you willing to leave?” he honestly rather picked their company himself, but right now, he had no choice, if he wanted to save Emil, he had to trust in others.

 

“An hour, tops,” Guang Hong answered, voice dripping with confidence. It seemed that whoever Guang Hong had in mind probably would agree- which was slightly reassuring. At least, if Guang Hong bothered to tell them _who_ they were going to patch up.

 

“Thanks,” Michele mumbled, voice trembling slightly. He was rather lucky with his friends- even if he wanted to trade them for a corn chip nine out of the ten times, they were there for him when necessary. “An hour is fine.”

 

Later, he blamed the adrenaline, though he was sure that wasn’t what caused his impulsive reaction. Smiling slightly, Michele pulled the healer in a hug. “Thanks,” he repeated, burying his nose in the other’s messy hair. “You’re amazing.”

 

Gently, Guang Hong pushed him away. The brunet’s face was bright red, eyes blown wide. “Not interested Crispino,” Guang Hong mumbled. “You aren’t my type.”

 

“Why do you have to ruin the moment?” Michele scolded, but he couldn’t stop the small smile appearing on his lips. “See you in an hour, okay?”

 

Guang Hong nodded and the two went separated ways- Michele headed to his home while Guang Hong headed back inside, probably telling his co-workers he would be gone for a few days, family emergency.

 

~*~

 

Michele wasn’t exactly sure about their company. Of course Guang Hong was there, but also JJ and Leo were there. So, this raised the question, who was supposed to be the extra muscles and who was supposed to help out Guang Hong? Neither seemed really capable of being a healer, even if it was just a healer’s assistant. After all, both were used to do rough work, JJ being a castle guard and Leo a carpenter, spending most of his time sewing through thick planks of oak like he was cutting through soft butter with a hot knife.

 

“So, it seems I’m finally getting to meet your boyfriend,” JJ teased, winking in an exaggerated fashion. “Though I rather would’ve seen... different circumstances.”

 

Why again did Guang Hong invite JJ along? He rather would see Leo and Guang Hong make gooey-eyes at each other and third wheeling then sharing the burden with JJ. “Emil isn’t my boyfriend,” Michele pointed out. “He’s a dragon.”

 

“A dragon you care about an awful lot- I feel like you care more about him then me,” JJ pointed out, and sadly enough, the guard wasn’t exactly wrong. Okay- it was just the nerves, no reason to think that he actually had romantic feelings for Emil, he just _cared_ , that’s all.

 

“Shouldn’t we get going?” Leo questioned, nervously eyeing the forest. “I still am not sure why I agreed to this- the forest isn’t particularly...”

 

“Save?” Michele finished, mentally rolling his eyes. Bandits weren’t stupid, at all. They carried little on them, barely worth stealing, and one glance at Leo’s bare, muscular arms and they opted out, hoping that an easier target would come by. “We’ll travel mostly through Emil’s territory anyway.”

 

“Right, okay,” the brunet didn’t exactly sound too sure about it. “Who is Emil anyway?”

 

Michele blinked at the carpenter. Hadn’t Guang Hong told him? Michele had given the healer permission to talk about it, as it was destructive for a relationship, whenever romantic or not, to keep such secrets.

 

“Ah, forgot to tell you,” Guang Hong confessed sheepishly. “Emil is the Forest Dragon- but there is nothing to worry about, even Mickey hasn’t managed to tick him off so...”

 

Leo still didn’t look happy, actually, he looked like he was ready to head back to his workshop, all forgetting about it. Surprisingly, Leo shrugged. “Well, that’s reassuring,” those words were actually genuine, as Leo believed Guang Hong. On the other hand, they probably trusted each other enough to believe each other on their word.

 

“Okay- while I love this little chit chat,” JJ said, actually sounding genuine. “I have a pregnant wife sitting at home so I’m not in the mood to waste too much time.”

 

Right- no time to waste, especially considering that by each passing second, Emil had a smaller chance of survival, though, at some point, you start to wondered whenever four or five days would make much of a difference.

 

~*~

 

Honestly, Michele had been astonished how easily his friends had adapted to the fact they _shared_ a cave with a dragon. JJ had looked at Emil with awe, but he didn’t even attempt to reach for his sword. The word ‘awesome’ had lingered on his lips for a while. Guang Hong was... well, the healer went straight to business as soon as he saw the injuries. He had scolded Michele for his sloppy bandaging job- but also remarked that cleaning the wounds certainly had bought them time- as far as they had time. Leo looked frightened, in the same manner as Mila, but recovered as soon as Guang Hong required his assistance.

 

“I honestly had expected... more teeth,” JJ admitted, hugging his legs to his chest. Guang Hong had banned them to the other side of the cave, announcing he didn’t have the patience to deal with a mothering Michele and a curious JJ.

 

“At first I did too,” Michele said, eyes never leaving Emil’s motionless body. The dragon was asleep according to Guang Hong, saving much needed energy to recover. “But considering that Emil is human, this looks better fitting then a mouthful of sharp teeth.”

 

JJ sighed. “Mila is trying, you know,” the guard said softly, patting Michele’s knee comfortingly. “But she really has to get her hands on those missing person documents- I’ve tried to help, but I’m not ranked high enough.”

 

“I’m neither, so don’t fret about it,” Michele mumbled. “I mean, the only one I know who’s ranked high enough to even have access to them is-” his breathe caught in his throat, making him cough harshly.

 

“Seung-gil,” Michele hissed, trying to catch his breath. “I swear, JJ. The moment you’re back, try to rope him into this- he’s interested and is the only one who can get his hands on the missing person files, even if it’s _illegal_.”

 

The guard shook his head. “Seung-gil is away on a mission, a long one,” JJ pointed out. “Second to that, people are keeping an eye on him, he’s one of the suspects behind the missing library books.”

 

“Well...” Michele drawn out, biting his lip nervously. “I might have pulled some favours with him- which means that yes, he’s responsible for that, shit,” he really screwed up- if he just had gotten the books himself, Seung-gil could have easily stole the missing person files without anybody batting an eye at him. “Fuck.”

 

“Why did you need books?” JJ questioned, offering him a puzzled expression. “The books that went missing weren’t books about curses and such- so I don’t see why you need them.”

 

This was awkward. Now he had to explain JJ of all people _why_ he had stolen library books. Or, well, ‘borrowed’ sounded better as they all had returned, save and sound.

 

“Emil had nightmares,” Michele mumbled, voice shaking slightly. “I remember that if Sara had nightmares, our mum read her bedtime stories till she fell asleep.”

 

A silence fell between them, both paying more attention to a frantic Guang Hong than anything else. “It’s kind of funny,” JJ pointed out, shifting slightly to get in a more comfortable position. “Your boyfriend is being manhandled by a guy who is like, half his size?”

 

“Emil isn’t my boyfriend- he’s a dragon for heaven’s sake,” Michele scolded, flustered.

 

A soft smile grazed JJ’s features. “What if he hadn’t been a dragon?” JJ whispered. “What happens if the curse is broken- if that ever happens? Don’t you think you’ll fall for him the moment he’s human again?”

 

“I think-”

 

_That you should be minding your own business_ , Michele mentally answered, but it wasn’t the answer that came of his lips. “That I already fell for him- the only thing that’s stopping me right now is the fact he _is_ a dragon- and probably doesn’t feels the same about me.”

 

“Well, I can’t speak for Emil- I have never held a conversation with him once so...” JJ let out a low chuckle. “But you’re more loveable then you give yourself credit for. Even if he isn’t into guys, he surely will care about you, which is what matters the most in the end,” JJ’s expression was unfamiliar- a softness that usually was reserved for Isabella, _especially_ after they found out she was pregnant. “A lifetime friendship is worth more than a short-lived romance. I mean, see how much you need your friends- do you think you would have gotten anywhere without us?”

 

“Now you’re just boosting your own ego, JJ,” Michele muttered, but it was hard to wipe the smile off his face. JJ was, for once, right. Without Mila he would never had figured out if his suspicious was real- without Guang Hong Emil definitely wouldn’t make it till the end of the summer. While the future was still vague- he at least knew that his friends fought restlessly to give it shape- hopefully in a happily alive Emil, as a dragon or not.

 

“Oh also- Emil is into men,” Michele remarked, enjoying seeing JJ choke on his own spit. “Just to mention it.”

 

“Now I truly feel for you- now you have a _chance_. You’ll see, he’s probably ugly as a human,” JJ tried to sound confident, but he still seemed to be shaken slightly.

 

“Well, Isabella married you so…”

 

~*~

 

Guang Hong, Leo and JJ had left three days into their stay in the cave. Emil had been healing up nicely, and Guang Hong swore his first born to the fact that Emil wouldn’t die, at least of these injuries. Apparently offering one’s first born was a common trend amongst his friends. Thankfully JJ actually had refrained from doing that, as he was the only one who, as of now, would have a first born. Mila liked women, Michele liked men, and Guang Hong was… a mystery. Guang Hong was Guang Hong, that was all.

 

Yet, despite Guang Hong’s reassurance, Michele still worried over Emil. So, he had opted to pick up an old habit and sleep with Emil. Not in the sexual sense, but just use Emil as a mattress. The nice thing was that he could hear the dragon’s heartbeat, which eased his worry. As long as Emil’s heartbeat was going strong, he was alive.

 

So, Michele yelped softly when his head hit the ground. Grunting under his breath, he got up in a sitting position, rubbing the back of his head. This was weird. In the last few days, Emil had bothered to wake him up if he wanted to move, and as far as Michele recalled, the dragon didn’t move around a lot in his sleep.

 

Rubbing the sleep out of eyes, Michele looked over his shoulder, seeing if Emil had rolled over or something. There was no Emil to be found, and it wasn’t exactly easy for a 30-foot-long dragon to hide.

 

As panic flared up, Michele jumped up, ignoring the wave of dizziness. Had Emil left? How? Michele was a light sleeper. That happens when you have to share a room with nineteen other adolescent guys, and certainly, Emil couldn’t have slipped out of the cave in the few seconds it took for Michele to hit the ground. All in all, it made Michele more nervous.

 

Hurrying over to his armour, Michele wiggled himself in the tight underclothing. Maybe Emil was kidnapped, which was quite a feat but not impossible. Or the dragon had decided to sleepwalk, and for whatever reason, it took gravity a long time to pull Michele out of his weird sleeping position. But that even seemed unlikely- he basically had _leant_ against Emil, no way he wouldn’t collide with the ground immediately once Emil was gone.

 

“I didn’t sign up for this,” Michele cursed, fastening his chest plate. “I swear if that idiot has got himself killed, I’ll-” hopping around on one foot, trying to get his boot on, Michele fell quiet. The boot fell on the ground with a soft thud, but the noise didn’t even reach the knight’s ears.

 

Laying in the moonlight was a very pale body- a very human, very _naked_ , pale body. His brain hadn’t even caught up when his muscles kicked in. Michele stumbled towards the person, his brain still not function well. It was still feverishly tying all loose ends together. Emil was gone- suddenly there was a human in the cave, a _male,_ which was also the same gender as Emil. Not to mention Emil _used_ to be human, so was it possible that the curse was lifted?

 

While it didn’t make any sense- there was no true love kiss or no act of kindness, this day had been exactly the same as the previous one, or the one before that- Michele had no time to mull over it. It didn’t help that his brain tried to feverishly tie everything together. Dropping down to his knees at the body, the first thing Michele was snatching up a smaller scrap of fabric and covered the man’s private parts.

 

Michele never knew if he had a type when it came to men, but it seemed this guy hit every mark. He had soft brown hair, more aiming towards blond. There was a faint hint of facial hair, a stubble by the looks of it. But the basic details soon were forgotten as thin, white lines caught his gaze. Scars.

 

The thin lines mainly ran across his chest area. They were a bit tender by the looks of it, but they weren’t accompanied by a harsh, red colour. There was almost no question who this was, _almost._ With a shaking hand, Michele picked up the man’s right arm, carefully laying it on his folded legs. Faintly touching the somewhat sun-kissed skin, the moon made him look unhealthy pale, Michele runs his finger down the scar. Emil’s right arm- leg, whatever it was, had been injured- a long gash. Oh god, it _was_ Emil.

 

Carefully placing the arm back, Michele started to shake his friend’s shoulders. “Emil,” he hissed, struggling to even make a noise. The curse was finally broken- but what were the after effects? Did Emil still remember him? Did Emil even remember who he was? What was the after effect of the curse being unstable? Was he still mute? Or _was_ this even Emil and not some deploy to stall time so a group of kidnappers could get away with Emil, who probably was still a dragon.

 

A grunted noise left Emil’s lips, and the man rolled a bit. “It’s early,” the words were spoken in a low rumble- but they were words. He wasn’t mute.

 

“Emil, damn it, wake up,” Michele cursed, shaking his friend almost violently. “And you claim that you’re a morning person.”

 

Slowly, Emil’s eyes opened. There was no doubt that this was Emil- the eyes were the exact shade of blue as Emil’s. Also, the drowsiness in his eyes was so familiar- Emil always looked like that when he woke up from a nap.

 

“I _am_ a morning person, but it’s-” Emil felt quiet. For a brief moment, Emil looked like he had been stuck in time, frozen, before the dark blond shot right into a sitting position, nearly clashing heads with Michele. “I can talk!” Emil yelled, eyes big with shock. “And I have hands,” he added joyfully, clenching and unclenching his fingers in joy.

 

“Michele, look,” the blond said enthusiastically, showing to thumbs right in front of his face. “I have thumbs again! I can hold things!”

 

Then, which wasn’t exactly surprising, Emil started to cry. Sobs filled up the cave as Emil bawled his eyes out, chanting over and over again that he had _thumbs_ of all things.

 

Emil looked young, younger than Michele could ever imagine. The guy was twenty-one years old, yet as of now, he looked like he might a teen who looked a bit older than his peers. It was gut wrenching, seeing Emil spill out all his emotions like that. But also a relief- the many years in the forest, always alone and feared, hadn’t changed the man greatly. He didn’t act like a mature adult of thirty-one, he was just a young man who finally got his life back.

 

“Come here,” Michele mumbled, holding out his arms. He didn’t like hugging, at all, but it seemed like Emil needed a hug.

 

A pair of watery eyes stared at him, looking slightly astonished. Maybe it was too intimate- maybe Emil wasn’t actually comfortable with body contact and- okay, scrap that thought.

 

Michele gasped for air when Emil threw himself in his embrace, arms wrapped tightly around his chest. “Thank you,” Emil sobbed, face tucked in the nape of Michele’s neck. “Thank you for everything. For keeping me company,” the blond hiccupped. “For breaking the curse.”

 

Gentling running his fingers across Emil’s bare back, Michele sighed, taking in the other’s body warmth, the familiar smell of the forest. “I didn’t do anything,” Michele whispered back, voice laced with guilt. “I have no idea how the curse was lifted.”

 

Emil sniffed but didn’t withdraw in disappointment. “You did everything,” Emil whispered back, tightening his grip around Michele’s chest as if never wanting to let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is the end of chapter 2. Not much to say- I know it's a long-ass chapter and the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger. I hope none of the characters was out of character (which they certainly are) and I hope that I didn't mess up the timeline too much. The editing isn't the best, but it was an absolute pain to edit. 
> 
> Anyway, per usual, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. Chapter 3 will be uploaded tomorrow if everything goes according to plan. (Which is pretty much the 'tie everything together, Michele struggles with feelings and Emil is just happy to be human again' chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still unsure about this chapter- I mean, I have the feeling I dragged it out way too much, but on the other hand, I think the build-up is worth the, well, the final. (Also, spot the meme(s)- yes, I used fricking memes, my mind was going on autopilot while writing this.)

“Are you sure you don’t remember anything?” Michele asked, annoyed by the level of worry seeping through his words. He didn’t want to baby Emil, at all, the blond had been through more than him and his friends combined, he probably could handle it a lot better than Michele could. But it didn’t stop him from worrying.

 

“Nope,” Emil said, sounding rather chipper for someone who lost most of their memories. On the other hand, Emil seemed to be a chipper person, bright smiles, lively voice. It was fitting- the behaviour from dragon Emil to human Emil wasn’t much different, only Emil talked a lot more now he could speak. “But they surely will come back- I mean, ten years is a long time, and Mila had warned that there would be some side effects.”

 

It was crazy how well Emil had adapted to being human again. Almost immediately, it had turned out Emil lost a lot of his memories. Not in a sense that his entire past was a black hole, but more that the details were missing. He didn’t know his surname, for example, nor had he an idea what the names of his family members were, he just _knew_ that he had a family. A father, a mother and an older sister. But the lack of memory made it also harder to pinpoint what had lifted the curse. It probably would be a matter of time and maybe being amongst humans would help. In the end, to find out what actually happened, they _needed_ Emil’s memories or at least identity.

 

“You’re surprisingly happy for someone with memory loss,” Michele pointed out quietly, ducking his head to hide his small smile. Suddenly it had become very… awkward to be around Emil. When Emil was a dragon, things were so much easier, because he was a _dragon_. Human and dragons didn’t mix, nor was there anything else than personal attraction- not physical. But as a human, Emil was the whole package. Sweet, dorky, charming in his own way and, in Michele’s opinion, rather handsome.

 

“They will return,” Emil said shrugging. “I mean, I’m human again, I would have been happy even if I didn’t remember anything at all. I can finally walk, talk and hold things properly. Nothing to complain about.”

 

Michele rolled his eyes and yanked Emil back on the forest path, saving the blond from colliding with a tree. “Yeah, I can see you can walk,” he replied dryly. “Next time don’t try to walk into a tree.”

 

Emil’s merry laughter was going to be the death of him. “Sorry,” he said, though he didn’t sound sorry at all. “Well, at least someone is paying attention.”

 

It wasn’t hard to pay attention to Emil. The bright, somewhat lopsided smile that lit up the darkness, lively eyes that screamed joy, wild hand gestures when he talked. It wasn’t hard to look at Emil, at all. It was harder to look away, to ignore the personal embodiment of free-spirited happiness.

 

Removing his gaze from his friend, Michele let his eyes wander up the poorly lit forest path. They would enter the city in a couple of minutes if he wasn’t wrong. Usually, it would bustle with life, but at the hour the two currently were travelling, there would be barely anyone awake. It was still too early for a baker to start baking, and all the people in taverns and inns would have crashed their beds by now. It was the quietest the city ever got, and Emil’s loud voice would definitely change that.

 

 “Emil, could you try to be quiet,” Michele asked gently, growing flustered in the face. Usually, he would have hissed at his friends to be quiet, calling them idiots. But this didn’t feel right with Emil. “I’m trying to sneak you in, unnoticed, that isn’t going to work if you wake up the entire neighbourhood.”

 

Thankfully, Emil just nodded and made a zipping motion with his hands. They had decided to keep quiet about what happened. For starters, the entire city would erupt into celebrations and noise if they realised that finally, the Forest Dragon had disappeared. In addition to that, people would bombard Emil with questions about what happened. If _Emil_ didn’t know, there was no chance the others would know. And knowing the people, they didn’t take an ‘I don’t know’ for an answer. Hence why they decided to keep it quiet, giving Emil some time to rest, adjust to a life as a human and hopefully, recover his memories.

 

They wandered into the deserted city. It was… weird. Oddly romantic if Michele had to admit. Maybe it was the thrill of sneaking in like a thief- or it was like two lovers who weren’t supposed to be together breaking the rules. Seeing each other, talking to each, loving each other. Though that only happened in the cheesy, romance plays that were held for the richer people.

 

“Take my hand,” Michele whispered, holding out his left hand for Emil to take. “It’s a maze- you won’t be able to find your way out if you’re unfamiliar around here.”

 

This was so stupid- not the holding hand part, the part that his heart was beating like crazy. He had done this before with Sara and other’s when they were younger, but he was never nervous around them. His heart didn’t beat like crazy, his hands weren’t clammy, and he never had the urge before to pull them close and never let them go.

 

Unlike Michele, Emil didn’t seem to have any issues with this. The blond grinned and happily grabbed his cold hand, not even complaining that it was clammy.

 

It was weird, walking hand-in-hand through the streets of his birthplace. What if someone saw them? Would they assume that he and Emil were- no, surely not, it was a common thing to hold hands in a way to guide someone through the maze of streets and alleyways. He would just sell Emil off as a traveller from Port City.

 

“This way,” Michele whispered, tugging Emil into an alleyway.

 

It didn’t take long before Michele found the stairway that leads into their apartment complex. It was quite a nice apartment complex, not anything fancy but it was clean, something he was rather fond of.

 

“Third step creeks,” Michele pointed out as they headed up the first flight of stairs. “And so does this one,” he said, hopping over the step with practised ease. Emil followed cautiously, not used to walk stairs and wary about the noisy steps.

 

A few more flights had followed before Michele dug out the keys to their apartment. It was small with two bedrooms and a shared living and kitchen space. There wasn’t much bathroom-wise, they had a communal bathroom downstairs where you could wash yourself twice a week and take a piss as often as you wanted.

 

“It isn’t much,” Michele whispered, unlocking the door. “But it’s home.”

 

Emil hummed softly and followed Michele inside, taking in the surrounding. “It’s nice,” the blond said honestly. “Cosy, homely- much better than my cave.”

 

“And much smaller,” Michele pointed out, taking off his boots and throwing his bag on the couch. “You can place your shoes at the door and your luggage on the couch, are you hungry?”

 

Doing as what Michele had told, Emil propped his boots next to Michele’s and dropped the heavily packed bag on the couch. They had decided to take as much with them from the cave as they could carry so that didn’t have to return. Emil had taken everything he had an emotional attachment to, which were mostly the nick knacks and other odd items.

 

“Right now, I just want to sleep,” Emil admitted sheepishly, rubbing his tired eyes. He looked almost… cute. Scrap that- he looked cute. A six-foot tall guy looked cute, great.

 

Michele hummed, not sure how the response, and started to strip off his armour. While not boiling hot anymore, it still was too hot to wear both his armour and the skin-tight suit underneath. Plus, as he was wearing the entire, skin-tight set of clothing, it wasn’t like he was stripping down to his birthday suit.

 

“Then sleep it is,” Michele answered eventually, stretching his aching limbs. This was so much nicer than the heavy armour. Gathering the pieces, Michele made his way to his own bedroom, longing to sleep in his own, decently soft bed.

 

Dropping his gear in a corner, Michele turned around, shooting Emil a confused look. “You’re coming?” he asked, gesturing to his bedroom.

 

Emil flushed bright red. “Wait, I’m supposed to sleep in your bedroom? But the couch-”

 

“Emil,” Michele deadpanned. “Sara doesn’t even fit on that thing; no way you can get a proper night of sleep on that thing.”

 

The blond chuckled nervously, hurrying over to Michele’s room. “Okay- so I’ll be sleeping on the floor?”

 

“No, you’re sleeping in my bed,” it was a bit awkward, inviting Emil to sleep in his bed. But it was a two-person bed, previously belonging to his parents. They would easily fit, even could sleep without touching each other, and it surely must be better than the wooden floor or the small, rather uncomfortable couch. “I mean- if you want to. It must be nice to sleep in a proper bed for once, and there is plenty of space for two so…”

 

Bad idea. Terrible idea. This didn’t help his case of love sickness, at all. He should just offer his bed to Emil and take the couch himself.

 

“Okay, I don’t mind,” Emil answered chipper, any embarrassment had disappeared from his face. “The bed looks actually cosy and much more inviting than the floor.”

 

Glad that Emil didn’t make it more awkward than necessary, Michele stripped down to his underwear, deciding that despite the mellow summer weather, it was still too hot to wear more than the necessary.

 

Gathering his clothes, Michele threw the laundry in the basket in the corner of his room. “In the drawers, you can find some clothes if you want to change,” he pointed out. “Otherwise, join me in bed whenever you feel like it, and if you change your mind, there is a bedroll in the closet.”

 

Hiding his flustered face from Emil, Michele crawled in bed at his side. Burying his nose into his pillow, he let out a trembling sigh. Oh dear, this wasn’t a very good idea, at all. He had stripped down to his underwear without much of a warning, though, on the other hand, this made it seems more… normal. Like if Emil was actually just being one of his friends and not the exact person Michele had fallen for, _hard_.

 

Michele wasn’t even awake when the mattress dipped, and Emil nervously laid down his side of the bed. Just like he wasn’t awake when he gravitated to the other, seeking out the contact he had gotten accustomed to since Emil’s injury.

 

~*~

 

At the rise of the sun, Sara tiredly stumbled out of her bed, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. There was still no word from Mickey, and it had been almost a week since JJ, Guang Hong and Leo had returned from the sudden ‘rescue’ mission. She didn’t know the details, they refused to tell her, but she worried about her brother. Mickey had changed so much over the span of five months, he finally had crawled out his isolated shell and start to live his life to its fullest.

 

Stepping into a pair of sandals, Sara wandered into the living room. Blinking, she saw that two extra pairs of boots were placed at their door- which meant that Mickey had returned _home_. Finally. Though, the extra pair seemed illogical, had her brother brought someone along? Maybe he had caught up with JJ, and it had gotten so late that the latter would crash at their place.

 

Nevertheless, ecstatic to see that her brother had returned, Sara walked over to the other bedroom in the apartment. It was still early, and probably Mickey wouldn’t appreciate it woken up so early. On the other hand, she had all the right to kick him out of his bed and demand for answers, if he hadn’t left her in the dark he could have slept in.

 

Knocking on the door, giving her brother somewhat of a warning, Sara pushed open the door. The curtains were drawn, armour pieces were piled up in the corner of the bedroom. But that wasn’t what was weird. It was weird to see someone else in Mickey’s bed. Okay- sharing the bed wasn’t the weird thing. In the past, her brother had shared his bed before with guests. This wouldn’t be the first time someone slept next to her brother, JJ had crashed their place before, just as Guang Hong and Leo. It was less awkward for two men to platonically share a bed than for a man and woman to share a room. But never before had she seen Mickey actually _cuddling_ with their guest. And boy, where they cuddling.

 

Michele was curled up in a ball, head carefully tucked underneath the others man’s chin. A protective arm was wrapped around her brother’s bare chest, keeping him securely in place. Their legs, which the blanket barely covered anymore, were tangled together. This was way too intimate for just friends, _way_ too intimate. And Mickey complained if she even looked at another man with _some_ interest.

 

Clearing her throat, Sara closed the door behind her. “Mickey,” she said loudly. “You could have told me that you returned.”

 

There was a growling noise coming from the heap of limbs, but neither of the two men stirred. “Mickey,” she said sternly, stepping towards the bed and pressing her hands against her hips. “Wake up- I want _answers_.”

 

Her brother moved around a bit, eyes slowly opening. “It’s too early,” he mumbled, pressing his head into the other man’s chest. “Can’t the questions wait till dinner?”

 

“Not when you’re snuggling with a complete stranger,” she glared at her brother. “What happened to ‘no sex before marriage’ rule _you_ insisted on.”

 

“We didn’t have-”

 

Mickey fell quiet for a brief moment, eyes growing comically wide. “Snuggling!” the brunet screeched, head-butting the poor man that was holding him. “Fuck! Shit- I-”

 

The other man woke up in alarm, taking only a few seconds to react and untangled himself from her brother, looking equally flustered and alarmed as Mickey.

 

“Sara, we did _not_ sleep together,” Mickey said almost hysterical, wildly gesturing with his arms.

 

Cocking an eyebrow in an exaggerated fashion, Sara stared at her brother with a deadpanned expression. “Mickey, for starters, you bring a complete stranger home with you,” she said, pointing at the blond guy. “And then you’re _snuggling_ with him. You don’t do snuggling, at all, _especially_ not with strangers.”

 

“He’s not- I mean,” Mickey buried his head in his hands, whimpering lowly. The other guy, who had an unsure smile on his face, sat down next to Mickey.

 

“Uhm, hi,” the blond greeted, offering Sara a small wave of the hand. “I should have slept on the floor, shouldn’t I?” those words were aimed at Mickey, who shook his head.

 

“I told you that I wasn’t letting you sleep on the floor, or on the couch,” Mickey countered, a look of concern on his face. “I mean, you at least slept well, right?”

 

The blond male grew flustered in the face. “I did, though I should have warned you I’m a bit… cuddly in my sleep.”

 

Sara giggled softly. She already liked that guy, whoever he was, he at least seemed kind, and Mickey seemed to actually like this guy. After all, Mister Michele ‘I have a stuck up my ass’ Crispino was terrible with relationships, no matter whenever they were platonic or not. So returning home with what seemed a nice guy was… nice. Unexpected, but nice.

 

“Well, are you staying for breakfast or will you disappear as suddenly as you arrive?” Sara full-on laughed as both the blond and Mickey grew flustered, her brother even went as far as making a choking noise.

 

“I- uh,” the blond was stammering, staring at Mickey with pleading eyes. “I think I stay for breakfast? It isn’t like I have anywhere else to go- if you can afford it having me around. Michele mentioned your money issues so I can understand if I would be a burden.”

 

Wait… what? “What do you mean, nowhere else to go?” Sara questioned, not understanding what the guy meant. Was he homeless? He didn’t exactly look homeless, too young, too healthy looking. And it wasn’t like Michele to pick up random homeless people of the street, they had very little to offer.

 

Mickey coughed, clearing his throat. A more serious on his face. “Well, uhm, long story- Sara, this is Emil…”

 

Long story her ass, it didn’t make sense at all. Emil wasn’t an uncommon name, at all. She could count on her hand on how many Emil’s she knew. Eyeing her brother, she immediately noticed he wasn’t going to say much more. So, naturally, her gaze moved to Emil. A brighter, less nervous smile greeted her, eyes bright with life. Very blue, very _familiar_ eyes. Oh.

 

“Wait- you’re the _dragon_ Emil?” Sara exclaimed, staring at the blond with disbelief. If every cursed man in the world looked like that, she most definitely would get herself a sword and start searching. Because, no way that this guy, which was admittedly handsome, was the same dork that nuzzled her stomach in a manner of hugging.

 

Mickey sighed and pinched his nose, clearly not ready for this topic. “Can we discuss this over breakfast- I’m hungry.”

 

~*~

 

It wasn’t exactly hard to explain to Sara what happened. His sister had sat quietly, listening to each word Michele told her with a serious expression. Emil was nodding along sometimes, but was too excited about the breakfast, just plain porridge, to really engage himself into the conversation.

 

“So we still don’t know how the curse was broken?” Sara asked quietly, fingers nervously drumming on the table top.

 

Michele shook his head soberly. “No, I think it’s a matter of time before Emil get his memories back, at least Mila said that the side effects were temporary, and then the rest hopefully comes easy.”

 

Sara pulled a thinking face, resting her head on her now intertwined fingers. “Why does it matter though?” she asked. “The curse is lifted- there is no reason to delve deeper into it. All that’s important right now is to find out who Emil is.”

 

“Well…” Michele already had considered this, but it didn’t feel right to leave it all without closure. What if the curse returned? What if it happened to someone else? It was almost too easy to leave it at that. “I just want closure,” Michele eventually admitted, nervously glancing over to a blissfully unaware Emil.

 

Leaning over the table, Sara gently rested her hand on his arm. “I understand,” she said, a small, encouraging smile playing on her lips. “I won’t tell anyone till Emil decides that it’s safe to bring the news out to the word.”

 

Sighing in relief, Michele returned his sister’s smile. “Thank you, that would mean a lot to me,” purposely, he didn’t add Emil’s name to that. He wasn’t sure how Emil felt- if the blond was actually content with the vague memories, as long as he was human.

 

“But,” Sara added, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. “You still have to tell the rest- Mila has been pestering me about Emil for way too long, she wants to know how the curse is lifted…”

 

Why did Mila want to know that? Yes, the redhead probably was curious, but she and Emil weren’t exactly close, nor were he and Mila. “Why does she wants to know that?”

 

Sara let out a loud snort and immediately muffled the following giggle with the back of her hand. “Well, she wants to know _who_ lifts the curse. If you managed to do that… well, there goes her first born.”

 

Emil blinked in confusion, first eyeing Sara and then Michele. “Wait? Is offering your first born child a tradition I missed in the ten years I have been gone?”

 

Michele cursed himself as he started to laugh. Emil’s actual concern was downright adorable, and it seemed that Sara agreed. His sister began to laugh loudly, no longer even trying to muffle the noise.

 

“Mickey has weird friends, that’s all,” Sara answered between laughter, wiping away a single tear. “Offering our first born child is apparently some kind of a joke amongst us.”

 

“A joke gone way too far,” Michele added, his face started to hurt from laughing. “I already offered my first born, Mila did and so did Guang Hong- it’s only a matter of time before Leo starts to offer his.”

 

In all honestly, Michele had expected Emil to be slightly disturbed by what he was saying, but the blond just smiled brightly, eyes blazing with joy. “Wait, but there is also JJ, right?”

 

“Emil, dear,” Sara hiccupped, looking close to actually crying. “JJ will become a _father_ late winter- I doubt he’s going to offer his first born anytime soon.”

 

“And, if he did, his wife would most definitely murder him,” Michele supplied, grinning as Emil looked slightly stunned.

 

It had taken a bit before the two siblings calmed down from the laughing fit. “Sorry for downright traumatising you,” Sara apologised, though she didn’t sound that apologetic. “We have an interesting group of friends I could say.”

 

Emil just grinned. “They sound fantastic,” he admitted cheerfully. “I mean, they all sound… interesting.”

 

“What else would expect from Mickey,” Sara pointed out, sending him a sly grin. “If you manage to be friends with Mickey you must be quite the person.”

 

“Wait? Michele is a difficult person?” Emil looked genuinely surprised.

 

Glaring at his sister, Michele mouthed a ‘don’t you dare’. Sara, however, didn’t seem to have an issue hating him. “Well… Mickey is pretty… temperamental. Stubborn and he’s a bit too overprotective.”

 

“Really? I never noticed” Emil admitted, shrugging. “But maybe I’m biased.”

 

Sara squealed, and Michele wished he could just sink through the floor.

 

~*~

Seeing Emil as an actual, full-blown brunet was… weird. For whatever reason the colour didn’t exactly suit him, the soft brightness of the man’s natural blond fitted his personality scarily well. Chipper, bright, warm- a bit like the sun, only it didn’t hurt your eyes to look at him.

 

“It looks weird, doesn’t it?” Emil questioned, running his hand through his hair for the tenth time.

 

It looked weird, but it still suited Emil. Though, to be honest, if he let Mila go wayward on Emil’s hair, whatever colour was the outcome would suit him.  Sara had, being observant and all, pointed out that there weren’t many people with light hair like Emil. Most people here were either brunets or black-haired, making blond hair rare, even if it wasn’t full-on blond. So, to avoid many questions and stares, they had decided that dyeing it temporarily would do the trick.

 

“Nah, Sara has done a pretty good job on you,” Michele offered his friend a small smile. “A few showers and it should be pretty much gone- and now you can roam the streets without catching anyone’s attention, well…”

 

Michele rolled his eyes as a group giggling teenagers waved at them, Emil in particular. After all, Emil was a handsome looking man who was a complete stranger to them. And boy, were these people nosey and curious. Though, to be honest, he was the one who caught up with Sara’s co-workers and gossiped about… things nobody had to know about.

 

Another group of women approached them, but instead of glaring at them, Michele offered them a small wave. In the corner of his eyes, he basically saw the group of giggling teenagers fuming.

 

“Hey, Mickey,” one of the women waved excitedly. Michele knew Yuuko, she worked for the same boss as Sara did _and_ she was one of Michele’s favourite gossip partners. “Who is your friend?”

 

The other women said their greetings. Michele knew most of them from Sara’s work, which wasn’t really surprising. They were, after all, famously known for gossipers. If you wanted to know something, you had to go to them, or Michele till some extend. Not working as a seamstress didn’t give him the access to the direct source of gossip.

 

“This is Emil,” Michele introduced, his heart stuttered slightly as Emil smiled brightly. A nice smile apparently seemed to do it for him. “He’s someone I met in Port City during a job, he never had been to the capital, so I offered to give him a tour.”

 

It was a perfectly good lie. Michele had been to Port City multiple times, so nobody thought that it was weird. Plus, Emil was a good actor. He smiled through the whole ordeal, not even getting slightly annoyed with the girls’ never-ending questions.

 

“So, do you like, have a strong accent or something? I met people from Port City before, and they were barely even audible!” one of the women threw up her hands in exaggeration. “I mean; you sound pretty normal.”

 

To his surprise, Emil’s voice dropped, and a familiar accent greeted him. He sounded a lot like the merchants that stood on the market in Port City, a thick accent, a weird pronunciation of words. The only that was missing was the slew of curse words the men liked to throw around.

 

A few of the women visibly swooned over the accent, and shamefully, Michele agreed with them. Emil was going to be the death of him. His energetic and bright demeanour didn’t bother him, at all. The cuddling was… nice. It seemed no matter what they did, their limbs always ended up tangled together, not that Michele was complaining. He was loud, a trait he shared with JJ, but for whatever reason, it didn’t irk Michele as much as when JJ was somewhat obnoxious loud. On the other hand, it could be possible that he was so far gone that no matter what Emil did he considered it endearing.

 

While Emil was occupied by a few of the seamstresses, Yuuko had slipped out of the ground and took place next to Michele. “He seems nice,” she said motherly, smiling softly. “So, is he really _just_ your friend or?”

 

In all honestly, Michele didn’t even have to answer that question. The brunette probably knew- it wasn’t hard to guess. Maybe Michele was making gooey eyes toward Emil, or Yuuko just had an amazing eye for things like this. How else did she become their non-official love-guru? She was one of the most sought out people when it came to love advice, after all, she had a steady love-life with marriage and children, something Michele couldn’t say for a lot of people.

 

“I want to say he isn’t _just_ my friend,” Michele started slowly, unable to take his eyes of Emil as the latter explained things about Port City Michele didn’t even know about. “But it’s complicated.”

 

Yuuko shrugged. “Well, time will tell in the end,” she said, which was a bit unusual. Usually, she would dish out love advice like there was no tomorrow. “Though, should I put him on list three?” she asked out of the blue.

 

“Place four I would say,” Michele added, violet eyes meeting blue one. “Yes, fourth,” he confirmed.

 

Yuuko hummed approvingly. “Place four seems fitting, we don’t have many men with blue eyes around here, so that gives him bonus points,” the brunette took out a notebook out of nowhere and started to scribble down a few words.

 

“I think list six is also fitting,” the brunette added, eyes resting on Emil’s behind. Following her gaze, Michele hummed in agreement. “A bit lower though, it isn’t his best _ass_ et.”

 

Yuuko stared at him in quiet shock. “You just made a pun,” she pointed out, pointing her pencil at him. “You got it bad, don’t you?”

 

“You have no idea.”

 

~*~

 

“Long time not see, Crispino, managed to survive the heat?” the man behind the desk inspected his nails out boredom, barely offering Michele a glance.

 

“Otherwise I wouldn’t be here, would I?” Michele answered, annoyance and sarcasm laced thickly in his voice. He nearly had added ‘ass’, but he didn’t want to be stuck with shitty jobs for the rest of the year.

 

“True,” the man admitted, finally facing Michele. “So, amuse me, why are you a week later than the rest? Most returned as soon as the heat wave had passed.”

 

Scrap calling the women nosey, this guy was the worst. “Visiting a friend,” Michele gestured to Emil, who looked very uncomfortable. “Well, picking up a friend seemed to fit better. Port City- quite the journey, you know.”

 

Thankfully, the man bought his story. “I’m surprised you have friends, Crispino,” the man leered. “But nevertheless, here,” the man rolled out an addressed mission- a request. “Next week Friday, escort mission to Port City. You and Lee will be the only guards, so make it count.”

 

“Declined,” Michele said, pushing the piece of paper back. “Bandits had been anxious, rumours of that the dragon has disappeared are making rounds. Without the dragon, I can’t keep the bandits in check.”

 

The man seemed far from pleased with Michele’s answer. “And how do you know? You speak with the bandits? You’re starting to sound like Lee- I find it a small miracle the two of you aren’t best friends by now.”

 

“No, but I just returned from a trip to Port City, the bandits are anxious and confused. If the dragon actually disappeared to gods know where, the bandits will take over without fear, and I don’t have a _death wish_ ,” and with this, Michele turned around, flipped the bird at the man and stomped out of the room.

 

“I could murder him,” Michele hissed to no-one in particular. Why was everyone this stupid? Did they forget to add brains to people? Or made sword skills- not the sexual one- one more superior than people who barely could wield a sword but actually _had_ brains?

 

“You can end in the dungeons if you kill him,” Emil pointed out, but his voice was shaky though. “I don’t like him, at all, he smells.”

 

Michele stared at his friend with confusion. “Did you sense of smell not return normal when you, you know,” looking around, Michele looked around, making sure nobody was listening. “When the curse was lifted?”

 

Emil shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know, though, who is Lee?”

 

Of course, Emil was going to ask. Michele was pretty sure he rarely had dropped Seung-gil’s name, at all. He didn’t like the guy, but he respected him, so there was no reason to talk shit about him.

 

“Seung-gil Lee is one of the guild’s best knights, and we’ve been doing a lot of escort missions together. Seung-gil is all the skills while I just knew how to get through the forest safely,” he explained.

 

“But surely you’re a great knight too, right?” Emil cocked his head, looking slightly guilty for bringing up the subject.

 

“Not really- my swordsman skills are lacklustre. But I’m at least one of the few who has brains, only Seung-gil has both, brains and muscles,” of course, the devil himself had to arrive just right this moment.

 

“I see you finished your mission, Lee?” Michele kept his voice as stable as possible, but there was a certain level of relief. Like said before, he greatly respected the knight, plus the man had pulled some favours Michele never expected. Also, he still might have to ask for another favour- like to steal the missing person files.

 

“I returned home two days ago,” Seung-gil answered, gaze not even wandering over to Emil. “Came here to pick up the next mission.”

 

Michele offered the other knight a wry smile. “Good luck with that- I already declined, so you probably are out of luck.”

 

Seung-gil looked mildly surprised. “Oh, so I take that the rumours aren’t just rumours. The Forest Dragon disappeared?”

 

“Not sure,” Michele answered, trying not to look at Emil. “They are just whispers, whispers from a pretty reliable source.”

 

It was no surprise that Seung-gil caught on. “Bandits- well, if the dragon disappeared, it means that we should get started on getting rid of those bandits- they have been an annoyance for too long.”

 

With that, their conversation came to an end. Seung-gil offered Michele and Emil a polite nod. At least, that seemed to be his plan. But the knight froze on the spot when his gaze caught Emil’s, who smiled nervously back. Seung-gil was pretty unnerving, even for someone as preppy and happy as Emil.

 

“Have we… met before?” Seung-gil asked in puzzlement.

 

Emil looked equally puzzled, eyebrows pinched together slightly, nervously biting his lip. “I’m not sure- you look familiar, but I can’t place it,” Michele was so glad that Emil could act decently well, or at least play along.

 

“Maybe in Port City?” Michele added, hoping that he would throw off Seung-gil’s possible hunch. “There is where I met Emil, so maybe you met him there?”

 

Seung-gil still seemed sceptical, yet he appeared to be thrown off. “You don’t sound like you’re from Port City.”

 

“A good merchant can speak in more than just one dialect,” Emil quoted in a thick accent, something that probably just popped up in his mind. 

 

Thankfully, Seung-gil’s scepticism ultimately faltered. “A merchant’s son, of course, should have known. Have a good day.”

 

Seung-gil this time actually left, entering the room Michele just left.

 

“You know more, don’t you?” Emil questioned on their way out.

 

“He met you as, you know, when you were a dragon,” Michele whispered the last part. “But he’s pretty harmless. He’s was the reason I managed to sneak out those books.”

 

Emil grinned, any hesitation washed away like snow for the sun. “So he’s just like you, scary on the outside but a soft on the inside.”

 

He couldn’t believe he actually liked this guy. Did Emil seriously suggest that he and Seung-gil were actually quite alike? The two of them were nothing alike, at all. 

 

“I’m nothing like him,” Michele protest. All Emil was doing was laughing, alarming a few of passerby.

 

“Well, I think if you don't cut each other’s throat, the two of you actually could be great together,” Emil sounded way too genuine. There was no teasing, no jabbing, it was a genuine suggestion.

 

“Forget about that- but on another note, some memories returned, right?” Michele asked hopefully. How else did Emil know all these random things about Port City? Maybe Emil was actually a merchant’s son- it wouldn’t be too farfetched. He was easy to talk with, he was charming, had an engaging personality. Everything that made him an actual liking merchant.

 

“I think so,” Emil admitted. “I recall visiting Port City a lot in the past, sometimes together with my dad, sometimes with other people.”

 

Okay, Emil being a merchant’s son was the most plausible theory they had as of now. “Nothing else?” he asked almost hopeful. The faster Emil recalled his memories, the better.

 

“Not particularly, just that I used to travel a lot, I think,” Emil’s frown smoothed out, and he shook his head. “Can’t recall more- but if this happens each time I’m outside-”

 

“If it takes too long, I will ask Mila, she surely knows what to do,” Michele added, slightly afraid to bring Emil out more. Seeing how closely Seung-gil had been to recognise him, the rest of his friends would surely recognise Emil in a heartbeat. Not to mention that Mila had assured them it wouldn’t take too long for the leftovers of the curse to fade.

 

~*~

 

Without a doubt, Sara felt guilty for lying. On her day off, Mila had asked her if she could help out with the whole ‘how to lift Mickey’s boyfriend his curse’ situation. It seemed that Mickey had yet to tell Mila that the curse was already lifted, and it didn’t feel right to tell her friend that herself. After all, her brother had nearly pleaded not to tell anyone about it. Nevertheless, she agreed and tried to lie her way through Mila’s well-meant questions.

 

“Okay, I’m looking for a book with a red spine, golden letters and it’s about _this_ big,” Mila held her thumb between two fingers. Great, so the book was small.

 

The library wasn’t exactly Sara’s favourite place, mainly because she didn’t have much time to sit down and read a good book, not to mention she only recently learnt _how_ to read. Anyway, between school and work, there wasn’t just a lot of time.

 

Searching for a while, Sara triumphantly found the book Mila had been searching for. “Found it!” she happily shouted, earning a few hisses from other visitors. Right, this was a library, you had to be quiet.

 

Mila happily took the book from her, inspecting the cover. “I feel like I’m wasting my time a little, you know,” the redhead whispered as they sought a table to sit at. “I need the missing person files- but I just can’t get my hands on them.”

 

Sara honestly pitied her friend. Mila had been working her ass off, helping out Mickey, but she simply couldn’t get her hands on the files she desperately needed. Once they managed that, they surely would make great progress. Maybe not in finding out what exactly the curse was, as Emil was back to human form, but they at least could figure out the blond’s past.

 

Looking around to find a free table, Sara saw a familiar figure hunching over a few thick, almost ancient looking books. “This way,” Sara whispered, tugging Mila along. Guang Hong also knew about Emil, maybe he could give them a lead. If not, it was at least nice to have somebody else present that knew about the dragon. Ex-dragon. Whatever. It was isolating to only talk with Mila about it.

 

“Hey,” Sara happily greeted, plopping down in the seat opposite of Guang Hong. The brunet jumped up, slamming the book close in a hurry.

 

“Sara,” he squeaked, face flushed bright red. “Uhm, what are you doing here?”

 

Mila patted the book. “Research, just like you. Did Mickey ask you to look into things?”

 

The healer seemed to calm down when he realised that Sara and Mila were in the same boat as him. “Yes,” Guang Hong admitted. “A while ago, actually. But I have been procrastinating till, well…”

 

“It’s okay- we all have a life aside of my brother,” Sara reassured, drumming her fingers softly against the table top. “A thanks- for, you know, doing that, helping Mickey out with Emil.”

 

It seemed that Michele hadn’t bothered to update Mila on what had happened about four weeks ago. “I’m missing something, aren’t I?” the redhead asked, looking slightly annoyed.

 

“Well, yes, about three, maybe four weeks ago, Emil was injured by wolves- Mickey basically had dragged this poor soul to the cave to fix him up,” Sara gestured to Guang Hong, who once again grew flustered.

 

Mila let out an ‘oh’ sound and thankfully, didn’t bother to delve deeper into the subject. “So, Mickey also roped you in to figure things out. Got any leads?”

 

Sara was surprised when Guang Hong actually nodded. The brunet carefully opens the book again, flickering through the pages till he found the one where he was reading. “Well, Mickey gave me a jar of ointment,” Guang Hong explained, taking out a small jar from his bag. “He had found it in Emil’s cave and said he had used it for his own injury,” the healer wrinkled his nose. “I never had seen a scar heal so well, so I guessed this stuff must be somewhat rare.”

 

“Let me guess,” Mila grinned. “It’s rare.”

 

“Very,” Guang Hong confirmed. “Well, more like it’s _costly_. Mainly used by the wealthy, like, duke level of rich. Plus, by the looks of it, it’s probably eleven years old, which makes no sense at all unless…”

 

“Emil has been cursed for a solid ten years by now,” Mila pointed out, and Sara saw the guilt on her face. It seemed that Mickey had forgotten to inform others about his newer discoveries. “Which means that the five years, seven tops, were wrong.”

 

Guang Hong nodded enthusiastically. “Now if I could get my hands on the missing person files- I could figure out who fits the picture.”

 

All the thrill of a new discovery evaporated. “Good luck with that,” Mila said soberly. “Have been trying for months, can’t get my hands on them for whatever reason.”

 

Before Guang Hong could respond to that, not that there was much to answer to, someone sat down next to the brunet, dropping a heavy bag on the table. “Missing person files, ranging from five years till fifteen years ago.”

 

Three sets of eyes, Sara’s included, move to the newcomer. The last person she had expected to sit down next to the healer was Seung-gil Lee, their old neighbour and a knight in Mickey’s guild. 

 

“How did you get these,” Mila asked perplexed, staring at the bag as if she could _see_ the content. “I have been trying to borrow them for months.”

 

A small smile twitched on Seung-gil’s lips. “I borrowed them,” he explained. “Without permission.”

 

She didn’t saw that coming. “Wait, what?” Sara questioned, gaping at her ex-neighbour. “You _stole_ them,” she added in a hiss.

 

“Well yes,” Seung-gil hissed back, glaring at her. “ _How_ else was I going to get them? Unless you’re their lapdog, you won’t get them.”

 

Sara knew perfectly well that Seung-gil added ‘and I’m definitely not some lapdog.’ After all, the knight was stubborn and strong-willed. To get him to listen would take quite a bit of effort, unless you apparently are Michele.

 

“Okay- aside from how you acquired them, why are you helping us?” Mila questioned, lips pressed together in a thin line. “I assume Mickey didn’t ask you to help?”

 

“Listen, I just wants to know, I don’t care about fame, money or anything else, I just,” the knight run a hand through his hair. “I knew that Crispino,” Sara raised an amused eyebrow. “Michele knew _more_. I never knew how much more till, well, last week.”

 

Sara felt chills run down her spine. Mickey had mentioned they had run into Seung-gil, _and_ that Emil had looked familiar to Seung-gil, but she hadn’t expected that the knight would put two and two together, though it was more like some overly complicated math problem nobody could solve. “You know?” she asked, voice shaking slightly.

 

“Those eyes hard to forget, I met him once, the dragon, back in the forest,” Seung-gil, once again, ran his hand through his hair again, and Sara realised that it was a habit, the man was _nervous_. “I fled as soon as I saw his eyes- too human-like. It wasn’t hard to recognise them even if they belonged to a human instead of a dragon.”

 

Both Guang Hong and Mila shared confused looks, who also were thrown in both Sara’s and Seung-gil’s expression. “The curse is lifted,” Sara admitted weakly. “A week or two, maybe three, ago I think, maybe a little less. I promised not to tell anyone but-”

 

“Then why are we still trying?” Mila questioned, her face set with annoyance. “I have been working my ass off to lift a curse that’s already been lifted!”

 

Thankfully, Guang Hong took a calmer and careful approach. “Why didn’t Mickey tell us?”

 

Seung-gil shrugged, probably knowing was much as Guang Hong, and Mila was still quietly fuming. However, Sara _knew_. Or at least had a hunch why Michele was so… hesitant.

 

“He’s afraid of losing Emil,” Sara answered, feeling all the gazes turn to her. “Both of them suspect that there is some magic left, which Mila had warned them for- as Emil struggles with recalling his past, and Mickey fears that once Emil recalls everything, he will leave him and find his family again. He-”

 

“He _is_ in love Emil!” Mila exclaimed. “Oh god- that’s so cute.”

 

Seung-gil blinked slowly. “Wait, did you say Emil?”

 

Mila looked surprised but nodded.

 

“When did he disappear?” Seung-gil questioned, already rummaging through the bag with missing person files. “I doubt it was five years ago, was it?”

 

“Ten years,” Guang Hong answered. At first, Sara wanted to scold him for giving away all their research. Though, she soon realised that without Seung-gil, they wouldn’t get anywhere.

 

Seung-gil hummed and took out the files from ten-years-ago. “Are there any other criteria, like age, background, family members? We know that he has blue eyes and is a brunet.”

 

“Actually, he’s a blond,” Sara supplied. “We dyed his hair to make him less… noticeable? Blonds are pretty rare around here.”

 

“Wealthy background,” Guang Hong added, holding up the jar with ointment. “I assume he had this with him when he… disappeared.”

 

With an almost triumphant smirk, Seung-gil flipped through the pages, eventually coming to rest somewhere in the middle of the book. It happened around summer, after all. At least that was their guess.

 

“Blond, blue eyes, about six-foot-tall, disappeared in our beloved forest. The rest of the crew was found dead, killed by _magic_ ,” Seung-gil _knew_ who Emil was- he knew even before he had touched the book. “Emil Nekola, younger brother of our beloved _queen_. He disappeared ten years ago and was presumed _dead_.”

 

Suddenly, Emil being a merchant’s son seemed more appealing. Emil being _the_ prince was, well, difficult. Knights and merchants could perfectly well mix, there was no issue with that. A knight and a prince… not very likely.

 

“Mickey isn’t going to like that,” Sara mumbled, eyes racking of the missing person file. There was no denying that Emil exactly fitted the description, including the fact he had an older sister, the queen, a father and mother _and_ had spent a lot of time in Port City, picking up the dialect. As the second in line, Emil was surely raised as more of a political figure than an actual king, as the crown would be passed down to his sister.

 

“Still, aside from the fact that Mickey is hopelessly in love with the lost _prince_ ,” Mila seemed almost gleeful, on the other hand, annoying Mickey was fun to some extent. “I might not know a lot about our little prince over here, I was like ten, maybe eleven years old when that happened,” Sara had almost forgotten that Mila was at least four years younger than her. “But he didn’t seem to be a bad guy.”

 

“He wasn’t,” Sara recalled. She was fifteen at the time, which made it all a lot easier to remember. Plus, she thought the young prince had been rather dashing looking- he still does, but it didn’t make her heart swoon anymore. “As far as I recall, he was well loved by nearly everyone. No real enemies, no political wars. Nothing.”

 

“Maybe he turned down an engagement?” Guang Hong added nervously. “I could imagine that could piss some people off.”

 

Mila hummed in agreement. “Yes- that could be a reason. But Emil was just a prince, not the crown prince, or princess in our case. Marrying Emil would have little benefits. On the other hand, marrying his _sister_ …”

 

A memory tugged her mind, and suddenly, everything fell into place. Her mum had told her rumours about that, about that a man of great wealth had asked the current queen her hand in marriage. She refused, there was a fight and-

 

“I think I know what happened to Emil,” Sara said slowly. “He wasn’t _personally_ punished; he was just the tool to cause the most harm to the original victim. His _sister_. Emil and his sister were very close to one-another, and losing her brother must have been one of the most terrible punishments she could’ve faced, worse than losing her crown or marrying some creep. She lost her closest thing to _home_.”

 

~*~

 

Life was a strange thing. First, Michele’s life had been pretty average, well, at least _before_ that faithful moment. Now his life was far from average. Emil’s presence alone was enough to make it interesting, a bit weird, but the brunet had expected that this was the strangest part of his life. Nothing could top meeting Emil. At least, that’s what he had thought before he opened the door of their apartment, expecting Sara to be home earlier than planned.

 

What he hadn’t expected was an almost _kind_ looking Seung-gil standing on his doorstep, looking slightly uncomfortable.

 

“What are you doing here?” Michele questioned, there was no bite behind his words. He wasn’t in the mood to bicker with Seung-gil, Emil alone was already enough to completely drain Michele’s energy. Between the unwanted feelings, Emil’s memory loss that hadn’t changed since last week _and_ the fact Emil didn’t like to be holed up in the house.

 

“You look dead,” Seung-gil pointed out, but like with Michele, there was no bite behind his words. “I expected you to be happier to see me.”

 

Michele threw Seung-gil a deadpanned expression. “You’re kidding me, right?” he questioned, clearly showing his disbelief. “I’m surprised you haven’t even complained to me for ruining your mission by declining.”

 

“It gave me time to think.”

 

Seung-gil and thinking were two things Michele didn’t like together. The knight was smart, not in a sly, sneaky way, he just had a good set of brains that could absorb information that most people couldn’t even comprehend, not to mention _remember_.

 

“And now what? You want money to cover your expenses?” he desperately hoped the answer was _no_. Michele hadn’t earned a single penny in the last month-or-so. Partly because of the heat-wave, partly because of, well… Emil. Even with having some money saved, set aside, Michele wasn’t sure if it was enough to cover an entire assignment, especially the important one they had been assigned to.

 

Seung-gil shook his head. “No, I have news for you,” the knight’s eyes flickered, gaze moving from Michele to the apartment behind him. “We found out who Emil is, full name, family, background, the whole thing.”

 

For a brief moment, all Michele could do was stare. Was Seung-gil pulling his leg? He must be, Michele hadn’t given him any information, at all. “What do you mean, _we_ ,” he hissed, narrowing his eyes at his fellow knight.

 

“Your sister, Babicheva and Ji- they needed the missing person files, I provided. That’s all my involvement,” Seung-gil didn’t seem to be lying, but that didn’t mean he was happy about it.

 

“Say I trust you,” which he didn’t. “Why are _you_ standing at my door and not, like, Mila or my sister?”

 

Seung-gil’s face grew slightly sour, nose scrunched up in annoyance. “I drew the shortest straw,” he answered curtly, glaring at Michele as if trying to shut him up.

 

“Sucks to be you- now, what are you going to tell me? What happened or are you just the ‘announcer’ that you figured things out,” he should be happy about this, Emil finally could home, hug his family, return to his own world. That was also the issue.

 

Michele wasn’t stupid. Emil was a caring person, not only for strangers or his friends but also his family. The blond probably had missed his family greatly, and he evidently wanted to be with them instead of being stuck with Michele and Sara in a cramped apartment. In the end, Emil would forget about him, and maybe they would never see each other again. Michele expected that it would be easy for Emil to move on, to fit back into his life like a lost puzzle piece. Emil probably wouldn’t look back and would lose very little. Michele, however, would lose _everything_. The bright smiles, the exaggerated yet genuine emotions. He would miss Emil, so badly, because without realising it, his life suddenly had started to turn around Emil. Emil had become his _world_ , while certainly, he wasn’t Emil’s world.

 

Emil was the first person he saw in the morning and the last person he saw before going to bed. They ate breakfast together, went shopping together. They even went as far as doing chores together, like the laundry, the dishes, and even cleaning. People liked Emil, which wasn’t surprising, Emil was very likeable. The lady next doors almost adopted Emil, the lady downstairs fought for that right. Emil easily fitted in people’s their lives, even Michele’s boring, somewhat difficult one. But that also meant the blond easily could move on and settle down somewhere else.

 

“While I rather not say this- I’m not the person for sentiment,” Seung-gil pulled a sour face. “Your sister told me you should have more faith in yourself,” the knight’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Emil probably cares more about you then you realise- and if not, he doesn’t seem to be the kind of guy that would just leave without pardon. But those are Sara’s words, not mine.”

 

As if nothing happened, Seung-gil pulled his face into his default poke-face, the only thing that looked off was the faint blush on his cheeks. “Could you fetch Emil for me? I’m sure his family is ecstatic to see him.”

 

There wasn’t much he could do. Michele desperately wished that Seung-gil would evaporate right here and now. He would just remain ignorant and not tell Emil what the newest foundlings were, whatever they were. Maybe he could have Emil by his side for a day-or-so longer. But he couldn’t do that- Emil had all the right to know. Despite keeping strong, a bright smile on his face, Michele knew that Emil wanted to know, know who his family was, the lost memories.

 

“One question, then I’ll fetch Emil,” Seung-gil thankfully nodded curtly. “How did you know that Emil was the... you know,” Michele threw his hands up in the air.

 

“The eyes,” Seung-gil answered triumphantly. “Plus I _knew_ you knew more, but I let it rest. I just helped behind the scenes, out of curiosity of course, and the fact that you’re one of the few respectable knights in the guild,” as soon as he spoke the words, Seung-gil seemed to regret them. “Though, I’ll deny ever saying that. Consider it out of pure curiosity.”

 

Of course, it was the eyes. Seung-gil had often mentioned that the eyes were the most recognisable feature of the dragon. Not its claws, or scales or the unfitting ears. It was always the eyes, and, in all honestly, this feature was easily one of the most mesmerising features Emil had. Without a doubt Michele could drown in them, especially considering how expressive Emil’s eyes were. The smallest emotions were visible in the endless deep blue. Well, deep blue wasn’t exactly right, Emil’s eyes weren’t the same colour as the blue sky or the ocean, it wasn’t the colour people waxed poetry about. But maybe that’s why Michele liked them more because they weren’t unrealistic gorgeous, they were real, and foremost, they were _Emil_. If someone had to recognise Emil from one physical trait, it was the eyes.

 

 Accepting defeat, realising that if he kept thinking about Emil like that, _he_ was the one waxing poetry about beautiful blue eyes, Michele gave Seung-gil a nod. Fine, they were going to see Emil’s family and hopefully, Emil would be happy. That would give him some closure, as all Michele had wanted was that Emil could get his happy ending when he started the whole thing. Only now he wanted to be included in that happy ending himself.

 

~*~

 

To his annoyance, Seung-gil kept quiet during the majority of their trip. They were heading towards the castle, Michele knew the route by heart, but it made him question who would be waiting there for them, for _Emil_. By now he had figured that Emil had a somewhat wealthy background, considering that the blond had been in Port City enough times to pick up the dialect _and_ knew how to read and write. But merchants rarely stayed in the castle, most of them either stayed with their family, or the travelling ones stayed in one of the many taverns the city had to offer. The castle was usually saved for either _really_ important merchants or politicians. Which also opened the option that Emil might be the son of some kind of politician, which would be a _lot_ of fun. Not.

 

Entering the palace wasn’t much of an issue. A few guards offered them a quick nod, eyeing Emil with slight curiosity, but none made an effort to stop them. But the further they headed in the castle, the more issues they ran across. Guards giving them a raised eyebrow, there whispers amongst the men, a few staff members giving them a double take. Michele was pretty sure this part was off limits to knights, but Seung-gil just kept on going, not showing any signs of hesitation.

 

“Are you certain that we're allowed to be here?” Emil questioned as another staff member started at them with knitted eyebrows and a tight-lipped smile.

 

“I think we aren’t,” Michele admitted, leaning closer to Emil and keeping a hand close to his sword. If this were a trap, he wouldn’t be captured without kicking or screaming.

 

Emil, who didn’t seem assured at all, grabbed Michele’s unoccupied hand. “Just to be safe,” the blond murmured, face flustered slightly. That was, however, nothing compared to how hot Michele’s own face had become. Didn’t Emil realise that holding hands wasn’t something friends did, especially not _male_ friends? Probably not- Emil was much more affectionate than Michele was, or probably would ever be.

 

It was on the third floor when things were truly odd. For starters, they hadn’t run into a guard for, like, five minutes or so. They were mainly surrounded by servants, who were too busy with their own things to even glance at the three newcomers. How they even made it this far was beyond Michele, surely a guard would have stopped them, after all, because now they _definitely_ had entered forbidden territory.

 

“Seung-gil, I don’t think we should continue,” Michele hissed, tapping the knight on the shoulder. “Can’t we just send a request to see Emil’s family? It would be easier, plus the risk of ending up in the dungeons are, well, slimmer.”

 

The knight looked back, a glare on his face. “If it were that easy, I would have done it- but if I can’t get my hand on something as simple as missing person files, I definitely can’t arrange a meeting with Emil’s family. You have no idea how many favours I pulled to even get this far.”

 

A lot, probably. It seemed that people owned Seung-gil _many_ favours.

 

“Then who’s his family?” Michele snapped. This was getting out of hand. Who in heaven's name was Emil’s family if a meeting was not doable?

 

Seung-gil was about to respond when a small figure dived from around the corner, coming to a halt in front of them. It was a young girl, maybe five years old, six tops. She had strawberry-blond hair and a freckled nose, which was paired with a brilliant bright smile.

 

“Oh wow,” she breathed, looking up at Seung-gil with amazement. “You’re pretty,” she said boldly, her grin not even wavering. “And you too, sir,” she added happily, now looking up at Michele.

 

Her eyes shined as bright as her smile, excitement and happiness pooling in a familiar shade of blue. She had exactly the same eyes as Emil. What if Emil had a kid? They didn’t know anything about Emil’s life beforehand, so maybe he had been married and had a child before he disappeared. But that would’ve meant the kid must be around ten years old, which she definitely wasn’t. Maybe it was just coincidence, blue eyes weren’t some that were exclusive to Emil after all.

 

“And I’m not pretty?” Emil teased, crouching down, so he was about the girl’s height.

 

Her pale skin easily grew flustered, a shy smile on her face. “Yuck,” she said, sticking out her tongue and scrunching her nose. “You could almost be my uncle, no thank you.”

 

Michele knew she was teasing, but it did send a wave of excitement down his spine. Maybe Emil was _actually_ her uncle. After all, Emil recalled he and his sister looked an awful lot alike so it wouldn’t be weird if his sister’s daughter looked a lot like Emil, which she kind of did.

 

“Thank kind of hurt, little lady,” Emil teased, ruffling the girl’s hair. “So, does lady ‘you could be my uncle’ also has a name?”

 

“Emilie!” the girl exclaimed happily, clapping her hands together. “Named after my actual uncle,” her smile faltered slightly. “He passed away before I was even born, mum said I would like him a lot, but it’s okay,” the familiar, bright smile returned. “I never met him, so there isn’t anything to miss. What’s your name sir?”

 

Emil seemed to be stunned for a while, eyes blown huge in surprise and Michele understood why. Her uncle was dead, and she was named after her dead uncle. Also, her uncle must have passed away before she was born, so at least ten years ago.

 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Emilie,” Emil said slowly, shaking her outstretched hand. “I must say, I like your name.”

 

The girl looked confused, cocking her head slightly. “Why?” she questioned.

 

When Emil just laughed, the girl looked up at Michele, eyebrow pinched together. “Why does he likes my name, sir?”

 

Unable to contain a smile, Michele crouched down next to Emil. “Because his name is Emil.”

 

Before the girl could comment, a young, tired-looking lady rounded the corner. Unlike Emilie, she was completely out of breath, her face resembling the colour of a tomato. “Princess,” the woman hissed, sweeping a guiltily looking Emilie of her feet. “What did I told you about annoying guests?”

 

“That guests should be left alone,” Emilie grumbled, but Michele was no longer paying attention. _Princess_. She was the first daughter of their queen. Which meant, if Emil was actually the girl’s uncle, which seemed quite likely, that meant…

 

“Sorry that she bothered you, sirs,” the nursemaid apologised once Emil and Michele stood full height again. “She’s a bit energetic, got that from her uncle apparently.”

 

“It’s fine,” Seung-gil waved off, offering the maiden a surprisingly charming smile. “Emil is good with kids, so she was no issue, at all.”

 

First, the nursemaid looked at him, but Michele smiled apologetically and gestured to Emil. “This guy is good with kids,” he said. “Apparently,” it wasn’t much of a surprise though. Was there anything Emil was bad at?

 

“He looks a lot like the painting of Uncle Emil, doesn’t he?” Emilie asked cheerfully.

 

The nursemaid sighed, shaking her head. “Emilie, dear. Your uncle passed away ten years ago- if he were still alive, he would be thirty-one.”

 

Emilie looked severely disappointed, and after a slew of apologies, the nursemaid escorted the pouting princess away.

 

“Are you telling me,” Michele asked slowly, turning towards an astonished looking Emil. “You’re _the_ Emil Nekola, the little brother of the queen?”

 

Emil, looking paler than a ghost, let out a shaking sigh. “I think so?” he asked, voice shaking. “I mean-”

 

“Yes,” Seung-gil was smirking slightly. “You’re the presumed death prince Emil Nekola, you were the only person fitting the picture, the name, the appearance, _the money_.”

 

Michele and Emil shared a confused look. “Money?” Michele questioned. “There wasn’t any money in Emil’s cave, at all, and I doubt bandits stole it.”

 

“This,” Seung-gil said, tossing Michele a familiar jar of ointment. “Is something people with _money_ can afford.”

 

He did recognise the jar. He had taken it from Emil’s cave after the first visit, as he had considered it as a possible lead. Plus, it had seemed handy. But he had all forgotten about it after giving it to Guang Hong.

 

“It’s from your cave,” Michele whispered, pressing the jar in Emil’s hand. “Do you recognise it?”

 

Emil nodded slowly, fingers gently brushing the faded letters on the label. “My sister always gave this to me if I went travelling,” Emil’s voice was uncharacteristically small, probably trying to understand what was going on. “I guess I had it with me before, well, _that_ happened.”

 

“Well, that answers that question,” Seung-gil looked slightly impatient. “Ready to reunite with your family?”

 

Emil shot Michele an unsure look. “I-” he mumbled, fidgeting with the jar.

 

“Go,” Michele whispered. “Then we finally can give you your fairy tale ending.”

 

~*~

 

“Why didn’t you just tell Emil who he was?” Michele grumbled, glaring at Seung-gil. They had managed, partly thanks to Emilie, to get Emil to meet the queen, his sister apparently. Maybe they weren’t related, at all, but with all the signs pointing to the fact he _was_ prince Emil, the chance was slim.

 

“Because we would never have gotten a chance,” Seung-gil answered as if it was the most logical thing in the world. “Listen- the reason they didn’t stop us from roaming the castle was that I pulled some favours here and there, remember?”

 

Michele wondered _how_ Seung-gil managed to pull that many favours. On the other hand, he had a feeling that a lot of people were in debt with the knight, Michele included. Maybe it was for the best not to question it too much- Seung-gil was a dangerous force to work with, not to mention _against_. If someone could single-handedly overthrow a kingdom, Michele would put his money on Seung-gil.

 

“Plus, Emil isn’t the first one claiming he’s the lost prince,” Seung-gil explained, sounding exhausted. The knight probably talked way more than he liked- and probably regretting pulling the shortest straw. Things would’ve been so much easier if Guang Hong explained everything. “Everyone wants to become a prince, the money, the fame, the _girls_.”

 

Pulling a face- Michele almost burst out in laughing as he saw Seung-gil copying him. He had forgotten that Seung-gil wasn’t particularly… fond of women. Definitely in a romantic sense.

 

“I see,” Michele answered, willing away an amused smile. “And by not telling anyone, you gave people the opportunity to lay the link themselves. The fact even the princess thought Emil looked a lot like her uncle was more validating then Emil proclaiming he was the long lost prince.”

 

“Exactly,” Seung-gil nodded approvingly. “Eventually, you’ll get there, Crispino,” the knight added, a faint sneer tracing his features. And they were back to their old selves, which felt more right then the awkward friendship-like relationship they had for the past hour or two.

 

“And, are you going to tell me the details about how Emil ended up cursed or didn’t you guys get that far?” he doubted that Seung-gil didn’t know. The fact they had figured out who Emil was probably made it a lot easier.

 

“Easy, big sister was asked for her hand in marriage. She says no, the prince is angry, plots revenge and hit the sister where it hurts the most. Her precious little brother,” Seung-gil explained, literally reducing a page-long story into three sentences.

 

Vaguely, Michele recalled the stories his mum had told. Or, better said, rumours. Rumours about a declined marriage, a threat and suddenly, a year later, the disappearance of the prince, the rest of his crew found dead. “Okay- and how was the curse lifted?” in all honestly, Michele hadn’t expected an actual answer. It wasn’t that interesting, especially considering that the caster was dead and Emil’s memories had fully returned.

 

“Well,” Seung-gil almost looked amused. “The curse was love-based, according to Babicheva.”

 

That made sense. Considering that the prince was angry about a declined propose, using a love-based curse made sense. Though, as far as he recalled, there were many love-based cursed. In fairy tales alone there was quite the list, true love kiss, kiss of a princess, true love. There were plenty more, considering that the curse could result in all kind of different circumstance, eternal slumber, becoming mute, _turning into a monster_.

 

“That isn’t saying a lot,” Michele mumbled. “Wasn’t she move concrete about it, or was that all.”

 

There was what best could be described as an ‘evil glint’ in Seung-gil’s eyes. “La Belle et la Bête,” the knight said in a choppy accent. “That’s all that she said.”

 

Michele was convinced that Seung-gil _knew_ what the story was, how it ended. How _true love_ turned the cursed beast back into a prince. Which also meant that Mila was convinced that true love lifted Emil’s curse. While hoping, hoping _desperately_ that someone else lifted the curse, Michele knew almost for sure that he was the one who lifted the curse. After all, he had even admitted to himself, he was in _love_ with Emil. Not that it mattered much, with Emil being a prince and all. A prince and a commoner didn’t mix. Maybe in the fairy tales, but life wasn’t a fairytale.

 

Feeling ill, Michele decided that he just wanted to leave. It wouldn’t matter much if Emil said his goodbyes once he was done with reuniting with his family or later. Actually, later was easier because Emil might just forget about him and move on with his life, living the happily ever after Michele had promised him. _Why_ did he have to fall for Emil? Being friends would make so much easier.

 

He knew the answer to that question. If he hadn’t fallen for Emil, the blond would still be a dragon, so there was that. So, it was either someone else had fallen for Emil or he himself, so there wasn’t much choice left.

 

“I- uhm, I’m heading home,” Michele murmured. “Dinner.”

 

It was a lame excuse, but Seung-gil didn’t protest at all. Actually, the knight looked somewhat sympathetic, like he had a faint idea what kind of demons were plaguing him.

 

“I’ll tell Emil,” Seung-gil said curtly, offering Michele a polite nod.

 

He honestly didn’t want to see Emil, because it meant farewell, but he couldn’t run forever. “Thanks,” Michele offered his not-a-friend-but-neither-his-enemy a small, grateful smile.

 

~*~

 

“Hammer?” Leo asked, holding out his hand. Familiar with their work pattern, Michele picked up the hammer and gave it to the carpenter.

 

For whatever reason, Michele always had found it very therapeutic to sit in Leo’s workshop. The smell of wood probably did it for him, explaining why he had enjoyed his stay in Emil’s cave so much.

 

“So, what’s it this time? Sara?” Leo questioned, slamming a nail into the wood with ease. “You only come here when you’re distressed.”

 

Wrinkling his nose, Michele let out a deep sigh. “How do you two do it?” he questioned as he handed Leo a piece of wood with a hastily scrawled number on it. “Living with each other despite not acting on your feelings.”

 

“Suffer,” Leo mumbled, measuring the wood. “We have little choice- Guang Hong struggles already with his job, being one of the very few males within the craft. A husband would to more harm then wanted. Also, you _know_ who are the majority of my customers.”

 

Young, single women who enjoyed nothing more than ogle at Leo’s muscles. Thankfully, while being clearing into men, Leo never had been his type. Otherwise, things would’ve been very awkward for the two of them.

 

“So, I guess this is boys troubles? You know that I’m terrible with love advice-” Leo paused briefly, frowning at the board he was cutting. “I’m terrible with advice in general, let’s keep it at that.”

 

Leo wasn’t terrible at giving advice. He wasn’t the greatest either, but the brunet was a good listener and wasn’t as easily flustered as his housemate, who got flustered by the drop of the word ‘love’. Maybe that’s why the two were so grossly in love with each other or at least could get along very well.

 

“Well, yes, I know that, but you’re the only one I dare to talk with. Guang Hong, Sara and Mila already know, JJ is… well, he’s JJ and Isabella is somewhat scary because of her hormones,” Michele summed up, growing rapidly flustered. Sara _knew_ about his stupid crush on Emil, heck, even Guang Hong knew. The brunet was probably traumatised for the rest of his life. After all, Michele sort of had been crushing on a dragon… that sounded wrong in so many levels.

 

“Oh yeah, I forgot about Isabella’s pregnancy,” Leo threw his project a dead look. “I _still_ have to figure out a present for them. You know them better, any suggestions?”

 

Michele threw his friend a deadpanned look. “I’m clueless. A crib? Maybe some toys? A mini bathtub?”

 

Leo blinked, a contented smile appearing on his lips. “I’ll save the idea for a bath for later,” he said, sounding relieved. “But, boy troubles. Finally found someone you actually like and is, well, into men?” Leo asked cheekily, probably expecting a no. It wasn’t the first time this topic was discussed between the two.

 

“Yes,” Michele answered, seeing the world end slowly.

 

“ _What!_ ” the wood snapped with a loud _crack_. With a soft thud, one of the two, obviously not well cut pieces fell on the ground. “You’re serious?” the disbelief in Leo’s voice was strong.

 

Soberly, Michele nodded. Yes, he was serious. It was fairly obvious he liked Emil- love always had seemed a bit farfetched, but still plausible. But _true love_ was just, too much. It was confusing, especially considering the fact that Emil would never return his feelings. In all honestly, even if he did their backgrounds were too different, a prince and a commoner didn’t work.

 

“Who?”

 

Michele forced a wry smile on his face. “Emil.”

 

The brunet hummed, picking up the splintered piece of wood. “Emil. Yeah, that’s really ringing bells.”

 

The sarcasm in Leo’s voice was sharp. “Leo, I only know _one_ Emil. You met him like three weeks ago.”

 

“Oh,” was all that escaped Leo’s parted lips. “ _That_ Emil. So, you’re having a crush on a dragon?”

 

Michele rolled his eyes. “Crush isn’t precisely the… right term to use for my feelings.”

 

“Then what? Interest?” Leo suggested, inspecting the wood to see if it still was usable.

 

Pulling a thinking face, Michele shook his head. “I fear I have to say that’s love.”

 

With a loud thud, the wood fell on the ground again. “Love?” Leo croaked. “You’re in love with a dragon?”

 

“Well, technically, Emil is human again,” Michele pointed out. “Forgot to mention that.”

 

Leo’s expression changed from ‘oh god’ to ‘thank god’ in a fraction of a second. “You gave me a near heart attack here,” the brunet said slowly, carefully patting his chest.

 

“I also forgot to mention that Emil is, apparently, the lost prince,” Michele pulled a sour face, still not liking the way it tasted on his lips. He would have been happy with everything, except anything that was completely out of his league. Like a prince or a politician's son. Of course, it had to be one of the two.

 

“I don’t envy your love life,” Leo admitted, sending him a genuinely sorry expression. “And _I_ thought my romantic life was difficult.”

 

“Yours is perfectly difficult- with me it's just being unlucky, I guess, I mean, the only thing that stops us is that Emil doesn’t return my feelings, probably, and is a prince,” well, he wasn’t entirely unfortunate, at least Emil was into men.

 

For the first time as of knowing the carpenter, Leo actually stopped working all-together, sitting down opposite of Michele. “You know- in all honestly, I don’t know Emil,” Leo admitted, fiddling with a piece of wood. “But he seems to be nice, and he probably genuinely cares about you, hearing your stories. So, maybe you should tell him about your feelings. _If_ he decided that a relationship wouldn’t work out, he surely would let you down gently. You get your closure and hopefully, can move on, become friends, but if he reruns your feelings…”

 

The next words were unspoken, but Michele knew what Leo was going to add. _You both can be happy_. Michele would also get his fairy tale ending, how sappy it sounded. But the chances that Emil would ever return his feelings was slim- he wasn’t particularly likeable, and the city has so much more to offer. Why would one want to be stuck with him for all people? Nearly everyone was more likeable than him and, foremost, they were better off financially.

 

“I wish it were that easy- I doubt he returns my feelings like that,” way to be optimistic.

 

Leo offered him a rare, actually soft smile. “Life isn’t easy, but that makes in interesting. Life without a challenge isn’t very exciting to live.”

 

“Do you also say that about your relationship with Guang Hong?” Michele asked bitterly. “Because I don’t see that work out well.”

 

It seemed that Leo had been prepared for that question. “It makes every second even more worth it,” the love was almost sickeningly sweet- but in the end, Leo had a point. “Love isn't loving without its hardships, but you never can start tackling those difficulties without sharing your love in the first place. It’s a struggle for us, but the few moments we have together are worth it. It’s easy to love your best friend because barely anything changes. It isn’t awkward, it isn’t all new. Maybe your friendship with Emil isn’t as strong as others, but the two of you aren’t complete strangers.”

 

“Still…” it was true they were friends, no doubt about that. But it still felt wrong. What if Emil felt forced into a relationship with him because he broke the curse? The stories never said that the feelings were returned- just that one side loved the other.

 

“Okay- remember that JJ came knocking at your door, when you were still training him, stressed out because suddenly, he had these weird feelings for his _best friend_ ,” of course Michele remembered that. JJ had been a knight-in-training back then, under his wing.

 

“Of course I do,” Michele smiled at the memory. “My parents weren’t home- so Sara invited all our friends over to play cards all night, JJ wasn’t exactly our friend back then so I wasn’t expecting him.”

 

Leo hummed approvingly. “Yes, and remember what you told him when he spilled his worries?”

 

Michele froze when he recalled his own words. Great, Leo was using his own advice against him. “Hold her tightly and never let go,” he whispered softly. “After all those years, she’s still your friend, _best_ friend. It would be sad if she says no, but it would be even more heartbreaking if the two of you could be something but because you kept quiet, she eventually found someone else. The possible heartbreak is worth the chance of eternal happiness.”

 

“Well, that’s my advice,” Leo smiled. “The possible heartbreak is worth the chance of eternal happiness, and maybe, in two years you’ll be married.”

 

He should have never given that advice- on the other hand, JJ and Isabella might never have gotten together.

 

~*~

 

Michele was glad that Sara wasn’t home yet. Mila had dragged her off somewhere around nine in the morning, and the two of them had yet to return. Usually, he wouldn’t be happy about that, but as of now, he wanted to be alone.

 

_Maybe you should tell him about your feelings._

Yes, as if he wanted that. _If_ he and Emil would never see each other after today, which was very likely, their friendship should at least end on a happy note. Not with tears, a broken heart and a guilty feeling Emil. Though, on the other hand…

 

_The possible heartbreak is worth the chance of eternal happiness._

 

Curling up on the couch, Michele snuggled into his blanket, ignoring the fact that Emil’s scent still lingered. He was going to mope around till Sara returned home, would drag his ass off the couch and cook up some shitty dinner. Hopefully, Emil would spare him the heartbreak and don’t show up. That would be pretty neat actually.

 

~*~

 

A loud knocking on the door jolted Michele awake. He couldn’t believe he had fallen asleep on the couch like some moody teenager- though that was exactly how he felt. It probably was just Sara who had forgotten her key.

 

Untangling himself from the blanket, Michele walked over to the door and opened it, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his free hand. Blinking slowly, Michele realised he was staring straight into a pair of blue eyes on _eye-level_. That wasn’t Mila, that was _Emil_.

 

“Emil,” Michele squeaked, face growing rapidly flustered. He should have expected Emil to come by, the guy was way too kind hearted to just forget all about him. But that didn’t make it any easier.

 

The blond- now actually blond again after a thorough washing- was staring right back, face slightly puzzled. “Seung-gil said you already headed home,” Emil said, sounding like his usual chipper self. “Not feeling well?”

 

“Well, yes,” that wasn’t even a lie, he felt ill, but not because of a stomach ache. “So, you’re here for your stuff, right?”

 

Emil looked downright confused, eyebrows slightly pinched together. “What do you mean?”

 

“You’re returning home, right?” Michele said, trying to keep his voice controlled. “I mean, I assume this is goodbye, maybe even farewell.”

 

“What do you mean, farewell?” Emil sounded hurt and genuinely confused. “You want me gone?” that cut deeply.

 

“Of course not, but you have a family to return to, right? Why would you stay here?” this time his voice cracked, panic seeping between the words.

 

Emil shook his head, eyes set in determination. “They believed me- and I’m happy I remember who I am, but-” a sad smile painted Emil’s face. Sadness didn’t suit him. “I actually wanted to use this as an opportunity to start over again. Not being prince Emil but just Emil, that tall, dorky guy that is too nice for his own good.”

 

He did not understand. Michele honestly couldn’t add two plus two together. Was Emil insane? Did the blond _actually_ want to give up a life of wealth, luxury and good health for life as a commoner, a commoner who ate stale food most of the time, had to work six days a week and usually were known for living short, not very fulfilling lives.

 

“You’re an idiot,” Michele said curtly, glaring at the other man. “Why would you give up something like that? You have a sister; you have a _cousin_. You’re just leaving them behind like that. They’re your world, you aren’t-”

 

Emil snapped. “What do _you_ know about my world,” the blond looked furious. “You don’t get it- this is my _chance_ to live an actually happy life. I’m no king, no politician. I never belonged to _that_ world. It was that I was born to the royal family, which made it kind of my world. But I didn’t fit in. And after living a forest for ten years, do you really think I want to return to _that_. An unfulfilled life with duties that bore me, people I don’t care about trying to win favours and arranged marriages between women I could never love. Really, Mickey? You think I want to go back to that?”

 

No. He understood. That was a very unfulfilled life for someone like Emil. The blond was someone who strives on human interaction, equal interaction, none of them was lesser than the other. Emil was charming in a polite way; he would be the kind of guy your grandmother wanted you to come home with. Next to charming Emil was kind, far from as cunning and cut-through as other people of power Michele had met in the past. Never, for a second of knowing Emil, had Michele penned him for a prince.

 

“Still,” he voice was shaking- he hadn’t expected Emil’s outburst, at all. “Why not ask if you could lose the title, fewer responsibilities, maybe you could be there as an adviser, or someone who takes care of Emilie, you’re good with kids.”

 

Emil threw him a look of disbelief. “Mickey… do you really want me gone that badly?”

 

“Yes. No, I-” he wanted Emil to be gone so that he never had to confess his feelings. But he also didn’t want to lose Emil, it was almost worth burying his feelings deep inside of himself. “Just go, please,” he was on the verge of tears, _great_. If Emil didn’t leave soon, he probably would start to cry.

 

“No,” Emil answered firmly. “Listen, if you want me gone, that’s okay. But surely Sara wouldn’t kick me out. Also, good luck with driving me away, I doubt there is anything you can say that makes me leave.”

 

Stupid Emil. Stupidly good willed Emil. “You don’t understand, the sole reason you’re standing here is _because_ of me,” hastily rubbing the tears away, Michele forced himself to meet Emil’s gaze. “ _I_ lifted that curse, I’m the sole reason you’re human again and-”

 

A sob broke his ramble. Fuck, now he was actually crying. “I’m so sorry,” Michele sobbed. “For breaking the curse and all- I tried not to but-”

 

Emil would hate him. Hate him from falling in love with him. After all, who wanted to have some lame excuse of a knight falling for them. Michele had nothing to offer, especially to someone as amazing as Emil.

 

The blond seemed to be startled by Michele’s sudden crying fit. Stepping forward, Emil gently took one of Michele’s hands between his own, blue eyes set with worry. “What do you mean?” he asked with a shaking voice. “How did you break the curse? Don’t tell me you did something dangerous,” the words were laced with worry.

 

Wiping away a few tears, Michele shook his head. “No- I,” there goes nothing. “I fell in love with you,” the words were a quiet whisper, almost entirely muted by his sobs. But there they were, the confession that has been laying on the tip of his tongue for way too long. “That’s how the curse was lifted. You were cursed out of revenge for a declined marriage- a romance-related curse. Having someone to fall for you for your personality and not your looks or wealth, just in like that story Mila mentioned.”

 

Like expected, Emil looked stunned. “You _what_?” the blond asked, voice trembling.

 

“You heard me, Nekola,” Michele sniffed. The man’s surname tasted like venom on his tongue, but it also made him feel better. The first step of getting over Emil was distancing himself. “I’m not going to repeat myself.”

 

Emil’s bottom lip trembled, eyes growing slowly wet. It seemed that he was about to cry too. “But, Seung-gil,” Emil stammered. “Aren’t you in love with him- the banter between you two, I thought-”

 

A broken laugh escaped Michele’s lips. “Are you kidding me!” he shouted almost hysterical. “Me and Lee aren’t even _friends_. Our relationship is complicated- the only reason we get along somewhat is that we both aren’t completely brain dead like the majority of the knights in this city!”

 

A weak smile formed on Emil’s lips, but that did little to soften his expression. Emil was, without a doubt, crying. Crying was a terrible thing- Michele hated crying, but seeing his loved ones’ cry was even worse. It was heartbreaking to see Sara cry, and back in the cave when Emil found out he had turned back into a human. His heart still ached. Seeing Emil with tear-stained cheeks, bloodshot eyes and a running nose were suffocating in the worse way possible.

 

“Hey, Mickey,” Emil almost whispered, slowly letting go of the hand he was still holding. “Would you believe me if I could fit the entire world in my hands?”

 

What was Emil doing? They were having a heartfelt moment, Michele was spilling his emotions, and Emil was asking a dumb question. “You can’t fit the entire world in your hands, dumbass,” a small smile crept up his lips. Why was this such an Emil kind of thing? Asking a dumb question in an emotional situation.

 

“Why not? I mean, I’m convinced I can fit my entire world in my hands,” Emil seemed almost offended, as far as someone could look offended when they looked like they just had cried for hours, which it actually felt like. How much time had passed anyway?

 

“You are an idiot,” Michele hiccupped, furiously wiping away tears. It seemed as soon as he wiped them away, new ones had arrived to replace them. “Nobody can fit their world in-”

 

Michele fell quiet as two, calloused were placed against his cheeks, tipping his head back slightly. “I told you my world fitted in my hands,” Emil whispered.

 

He was Emil’s world. Just like Emil was sort of his world- scrap that, Emil _was_ his world. He had crushes before, he liked other men romantically before, but never before it had felt this terrible to part ways, to force himself to fall out of love. Emil meant so much to him that it was stupid.

 

“What does that mean,” Michele laughed between his tears, face on fire because of the contact. “That you love me back?” it was too good to be true. Emil probably thought about him as a best friend, or maybe a brother.

 

“Yes,” Emil whispered. “I love you so much- but I thought you liked someone else. I mean, I assumed you were just being kind and returned for me out of guilt, out of guilt because I saved your life. Not to mention you told me so much about other people- I thought there was at least one person that you might like romantically, Seung-gil in particular.”

 

“You’re a moron,” Michele whispered, carefully thumbing away the tears that still streamed down Emil’s face. “Falling in love with you was probably the easiest thing I have ever done and forgotten about you probably would be the hardest thing I’ll ever do.”

 

Emil smiled tiredly, taking one of Michele’s hands on his own. “But you don’t have to,” he whispered. Confused, Michele shot Emil a quizzical look.

 

“I told you,” Emil laughed shallowly. “I was serious. I told my sister I was in love, in love with you and that I rather would remain death on paper and live a happy life outside of the castle walls, hopefully with you,” a tense pause followed. “I want you in my fairy tale ending.”

 

What the fuck. What the actual _fuck_ did you happened. Did Emil just confess that-

 

“You’re saying,” Michele started slowly. “That you have given up your old life to start a new one with me?”

 

Emil’s smile was almost blinding. “Partly,” the blond admitted. “I mean, I wanted to leave my old life behind for a while, but I was scared. But you made me feel brave, give me a reason to try over again, because you are here to catch me if I fall.”

 

It was all tough to progress. His ears were ringing, his heart was going crazy, he felt ill, but it was in the best way possible. Emil liked him- no, _loved_ him back. The feelings were mutual, even if it took a bit to get there. But this also meant that-

 

“Will you be staying here?” Michele whispered, almost afraid to ask it. Maybe Emil would still be staying in the palace, or maybe his family would give him an apartment as a ‘welcome home’ gift. An apartment was nothing for someone like the queen.

 

“Only if you take me,” Emil whispered back. “I haven’t made plans yet- my sister offered me a home, but I declined. If I want to make it out here, I probably have to start to take care of myself and not depend on a family heirloom I care very little about.”

 

Michele wasn’t even sure if he was still crying or not, the only thing he knew was that _yes_ , his answer was a thousand times yes. “You can stay, but there is a price,” Michele muttered, feeling his face grow rapidly hot. “One kiss? If you’re comfortable with it, of course- we can wait if-”

 

Emil’s lips were rough, wet and fiery hot against his. It was a strange feeling, his stomach coiled with heat, his hands trembled as he grasped Emil’s shoulders for support. Kisses were supposed to be gentle and soft, at least, that was what Michele always had assumed. But maybe that was a kind of kiss that happened on lazy mornings and not after two passionate, almost heart-wrenching confessions.

 

“That was terrible,” Emil sobbed, burying his face into Michele’s shoulder. “I want my first kiss back.”

 

Smiling tiredly, Michele followed Emil’s example and buried his head in the crook of Emil’s neck. “Sorry, we don’t have a return policy.”

 

“That’s a shame,” Emil mumbled. “I guess that means I have to kiss you as many times as it’s needed to forget about it.”

 

“I don’t think I would mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I was nearly crying (and screaming at my friend- who was screaming right back at me) when I wrote the ending- I suck at writing heartfelt stuff (I think, I feel more comfortable writing fluff) but I think I did a decent job. Anyway, I hope the editing wasn't too poor, at some point, my mind struggled to pick you mistakes after an entire day of editing. (There were a few things I did want to include, but decided to leave out for sake of, well, my poor hands and time-constraints.)
> 
> Honestly, I have no idea what to write here anymore (my sluggish morning brain doesn't like me), thanks for reading this! I know it was a monster of a fic (my brain is still reeling considering the fact that this basically, length wise, could have been a middle-grade novel...), but on the other hand, there is never enough content on this website so... I never mind contributing. Kudos and comments are per usual greatly appreciated. I'll leave it at this for now before I start to put down an entire life-story.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the end of chapter 1! I hope it was an enjoyable read- I did spend some time on editing, but as this was quite the piece I surely missed some stuff (and I was too lazy to get my hands on a beta reader.) Anyway, chapter 2 will be uploaded tomorrow, as it’s already finished and stuff. Per usual, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated, I think I sold my soul for this so…
> 
> I also hope that I managed to do justice to the prompt as shown in the past, I’m terrible at sticking with prompts. (The story is also partly beauty and the beast influenced as the prompt had the same ‘air’ as that story.)  
>  _Emil was cursed long time ago. The cities were terriꦰed by the presence of this beast in the wood and hired a knight to kill him. Michele started his mission, but found out that the beast is not what he seemed. ___


End file.
